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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. | 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



FLOCK FED 



OR, 



CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION 



PREPARATORY TO 



CONFIRMATION. 



6 BY / 

THE EE V. Of M. BUTLEE, D.D. 

RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, CINCINNATI. 



NEW-YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 683 BROADWAY. 



1862. 
1/5 



-C7 0? 



Entered, according to xVct of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 

in tbe Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United S:ates for 
the Southern District of New- York. 



John A. G-ray. Printer and Stereoiyper, 
16 & IS Jacob St, Fire-Proof Buildings. 



PREFACE. 



The author of this little work on Confirmation has been 
accustomed, for a number of years past, to meet his candi- 
dates once a week far several months previous to the ad- 
ministration of the rite ; and to impart to them, substan- 
tially, and in a similar form, the instructions and exhorta- 
tions contained in this volume. Having observed the great 
benefit of this, course, both in deterring those who were not 
prepared in heart for the solemn renewal of their baptismal 
vows, from a hasty profession of the faith of Christ, and in 
strengthening the hearts and enlightening the minds of 
those who were fully purposed to give themselves to the 
service of God ; and having been led to believe that the 
publication of the work might aid some of his brethren in 
the ministry, who desire to give a full course of instruction 
to their candidates, but in the pressure of their duties find 
it difficult to secure time for that purpose, he ventures to 
offer this humble assistant to their labors, in the hope that 
they will find it to speak the same things which they are 
accustomed to teach, and with the prayer that it may serve 
to enlighten, guide, and encourage in the ways of truth and 
peace those whose hearts have been touched by the Holy 
Spirit. 



4 



PEEFACE. 



It will be observed that the work has been prepared in 
the form of a manual of instruction. It is contemplated 
that the book should be in possession of each member of the 
class, and that it should be studied by them previous to the 
meeting of the class, in order that they may be able to 
answer the questions, and give the scriptural authorities 
which are connected with the answers. 

The notes and references in small type are intended as 
proofs, or further explanations and illustrations of the 
answer, which the pastor can use and enlarge upon, or 
omit at his pleasure. The "Remarks and Exhortations" 
at the end of each lesson are intended only as suggestions, 
and heads of instruction and exhortation, which each pas- 
tor can amplify or modify, or add to, *>r omit, according to 
the condition and capacity and need of the candidates. 
The last Lesson consists, in large part, of the heads of ex- 
hortation and instruction contained in Bishop Wilson's ad- 
mirable little work on Confirmation, and will furnish the 
pastor with fruitful subjects for two or three closing meet- 
ings with his class, of the most solemn and impressive cha- 
racter. It is contemplated that this last Lesson should be the 
subject of pastoral exhortation alone, and not of catechetical 
examination. 



LESSOX I. 



THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION. 

l confirmation practised in the primitive 
Church. 

1. The object for which you are assembled is to 
take into serious consideration the question whether 
you shall become the subjects of the rite of Con- 
firmation. 

2. It is important to learn what Confirmation is, 
what it involves, what qualifications of knowledge 
and of spiritual preparation are necessary for its 
right reception. 

3. It is called in the Book of Common Prayer 
" Confirmation, or the laying on of hands upon those 
who are baptized and come to years of discretion." 

4. The rite of Confirmation was administered in 
the primitive Church, as we learn from the testimony 
of the Fathers. 



6 



THE RITE OF C ONE I FIXATION. 



5. Tertullian, who wrote but one century later 
than the Apostle John, testifies that after Baptism, 
4 ; follows the imposition of hands, together with the 
imploring of a benediction and the invoking of the 
Holy Ghost." (Teriul. lib. de JSaptis?no.) 

6. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, fifty years later, 
declares " that those who are baptized in the Church, 
are offered to the Bishops of the Church ; and by our 
prayer and the imposition of hands, receive the Holy 
Ghost, and are consummated by the sign of the 
Lord." 

Cyprian, in the same passage from which the above is taken, quotes the 
Acts of the Apostles in Samaria, and declares that the same thing was done 
in his own day. Urban, Bishop of Eonie, (A.D. 227,) and a canon of the 
Council of Aries, (A.D. 314,) testify to the existence of this rite in the pri- 
mitive Church. (Bp. Kopkim's Prim. Church, pp. 80, S3.) 

7. Confirmation was administered immediately 
after Baptism in the primitive Church, if the Bishop 
was present. 

Bingham's Antiq., 543. 

8. It was administered to infants, as was the 
Lord's Supper, equally as to adults. 

9. The " chrism," or consecrated oil, symbolical 
of the grace of the Holy Ghost, was used in its ad- 
ministration, and was consecrated by the Bishop. 

Bingham, 547. 

10. In omitting these customs in connection with 
this rite, our Church shows that she does not feel 
bound by the mere practice of the primitive Church ; 
but that she adopts only such, practices as she believes 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



1 



are sanctioned by the Bible ; or such as are edifying 
and useful, and do not corrupt any of the institutions 
or doctrines of Christ and his Apostles. 

11. The rite of Confirmation was administered by 
Bishops. 

Bingham, 549. 

This custom was not without exception. Bingham enumerates three 
cases in which the rite was administered by Presbyters. 1st. When Bishops 
particularly required their Presbyters to do it, to such as were baptized in 
the Church. 2d. Presbyters, and even deacons, might administer it to those 
who were seized with an evil spirit after Baptism. 3d. Presbyters might 
administer it to such as having been baptized by heretics or schismatics, 
were upon their return to the Church seized with sickness and in danger of 
death. These were all exceptional and extraordinary cases, in which 
Bishops transferred their powers to others, on the ground of necessity or 
high expediency. (Bingham, 551-53.) 

12. Confirmation was not regarded as a Sacrament 
in the primitive Church. 

The word sacrament uni or sacrament, was frequently used by the early 
writers to express religious rites or ceremonies used in the Church. St. 
Austin calls exorcism a Sacrament. The salt given to catechumens before 
Baptism is called a Sacrament by St. Austin and by the third Council of Car- 
thage. Cyprian speaks of Sacraments in the Lord's Prayer. Isidore speaks 
of the bread and wine as each a Sacrament. When Romanists, therefore, 
find the ivord Sacrament applied to any rite, this will not prove that it is 
regarded as a Sacrament in the same sense as is Baptism and the Supper of 
the Lord. (Bingham, 546.) 

13. Our Church Catechism defines a Sacrament to 
be " an outward and visible sign of an inward and 
spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ 
himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, 
and a pledge to assure us thereof." 

14. The rite of Confirmation has neither of the 
conditions which, by this definition, are necessary to 



8 



THE EITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



a Sacrament. It has not an outward sign — as water 
in Baptism, and bread and wine in the Lord's 
Supper — and it was not ordained by Christ himself. 

II. Confirmation as held and practised by the 

Church of Rome. 

15. The Church of Rome holds Confirmation to 

be a Sacrament. 

Cat. of Council of Trent, p. 181. 

16. The Church of Rome connects several cere- 
monies with its administration. 1. She requires a 
sponsor, as in Baptism. 2. She uses unction, or the 
chrism ; and 3. makes the sign of the cross. 4. The 
Bishop gives the candidate a gentle slap in the face, 
in token of the bufferings and temptations he will 
encounter in the world ; 5. and adds the kiss of 
peace, in token of the grace and blessing which he 
shall receive from God. 

Cat., etc., p. 192. 

III. Confirmation as held and practised by the 

Greek and Oriental Churches. 

17. This rite is called chrism in the Greek Church. 

18. It is administered immsdiately after Baptism. 

19. It is administered also to heretics, on their 
admission into the Church. 

20. It is administered by the sign of the cross on 
the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, 
hands, and feet, of the candidate. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 







21. In the Greek Church, the chrism is composed 
of twenty different ingredients, and consecrated 
once a year during Passion Week with great cere- 
mony at Moscow. 

22. The rite is practised, with similar ceremonies, 
in all the Oriental churches. 

" Present State of the Greek Church." By Robert Pinkerton, p. 143. 

IV. The Kite of Confirmation as set forth in 
the Boos of Common Prayer. 

23. The service set forth for " Confirmation, or 
the laying on of hands," in the Book of Common 
Prayer, contemplates but a single object, which is 
the renewal of the baptismal vows. 

The preface declares that the order which it has prescribed 11 is very con- 
venient to be observed, to the end that children, being now come to years 
of discretion, and having learned what their godfather and godmother 
promised for them in baptism, may themselves with their own mouth and 
consent, openly before the Church, ratify and confirm the same ; and also 
promise that by the grace of God they will evermore endeavor themselves 
faithfully to observe such things as they, by their own confession, have 
assented unto." 

The question of the Bishop to the candidate also shows that this is the one 
object and meaning of the service. " Do you here, in the presence of God 
and of this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow that you 
made, or that was made at your Baptism ; ratifying and confirming the 
same ; and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to do all those 
things which ye then undertook, or your sponsors then undertook for you?' 1 
The answer is : 11 1 do." It is the only question and answer in the service. 

24. There is but one ceremony used in the admin- 
istration of this rite in our Church ; and that is, " the 
laying on of hands. 5 ' 

1* 



10 



THE BITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



25. The service contemplates the preparation of 
the candidate to take upon himself vows — the Bap- 
tismal vows — which cover the whole ground of 
Christian obligation. 

26. It implies therefore the candidate's belief and 
profession that, by the grace of God, he has been 
enabled to exercise such godly sorrow for sin, and 
such lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as to be 
pardoned, justified, converted, and sanctified by the 
Spirit of God. Or it is an expression of the can- 
didate's belief that he will he enabled, in the rite of 
Confirmation, so to exercise the graces of repentance 
and faith, as that he shall receive and have certified 
to him, in that rite, these great blessings of pardon, 
justification, conversion, and sanctification. 

The first sentence of the above answer is a description which is applicable 
to those who have received the sacrament of Baptism in adult age ; or have 
been admitted to the Lord's Supper. It may also be descriptive of the con- 
dition of many persons who were baptized in infancy, and have never been 
admitted to the Supper of the Lord. It is desirable that all who are con- 
firmed should be enabled, in all the blessed fullness of the meaning of these 
words, to adopt them as expressive of their own condition. Nevertheless, 
there are some who, from great diffidence, or weak faith, or strong views 
of the necessity of actually making, as well as of fully purposing to make, 
an open profession of Christ, in order to the reception of his full spiritual 
blessings, who do not feel able to make any stronger statement than that 
which is contained in the second sentence. A profession which falls short 
of this ought not, in the judgment of the writer, to be received as a sufficient 
preparation for the ordinance. {Bishop Mcllvaine on Confirmation ; in 
Select Family and Parish Sermons. Vol. ii. pp. 246-252.) 

27. The answer is equivalent to this : " I do hence- 
forth renounce the love and service of the world : 
I will not follow it, its covetous desires shall not 
lead me, nor will I seek my pleasure in its pomps 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



1! 



and vanities. I will live above it, and set my affec- 
tions on things in heaven. Whatever is sinful I 
renounce ; whatever is duty I embrace. To all the 
will of God, as revealed in the Bible, I devote 
myself." 

Bishop Mcllvaine on Confirmation, id., p. 245. 

28. In the prayer of the Bishop, which follows the 
answer of the candidate, the same language is applied 
to those who have been baptized, as is used in the 
forms for infant and adult Baptism. The language 
is : " Almighty and everlasting God, who hast 
vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by 
water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto 
them forgiveness of all their sins." 

29. This language does not imply that every can-r 
didate for Baptism, infant and adult, has actually and 
necessarily, by virtue of that Sacrament, become 
changed and holy in heart. In the case of the adult, 
proceeding on the supposition that his professed 
repentance and faith are real, it declares that he has 
received the blessings which follow on their exercise. 
In the case of the infant, the expression of repent- 
ance and faith being made for him, in anticipation, 
by his sponsors, the blessings connected with them 
are, in like manner, by anticipation supposed to be 
his. 

Thus our Church has authority for stating in her Catechism that all 
baptized persons, actual repentance and faith being supposed in case of 
adults, and these being promised by sponsors in the case of infants, " are 
members of Christ, children of God, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven: 



12 



THE EITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



and that, being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath, they are 
by Baptism made the children of grace, called into a state of salvation, a 
state in which salvation is conditionally promised to them, and attainable 
by them." {Bishop Hobart.) 

30. The remainder of the prayer contains a sup- 
plication for what have been called the seven-fold 
graces, or the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, namely, 
the spirit of unsdom, of understanding ', of counsel, 
of ghostly strength, of knowledge, of true godliness, 
and of holy fear. 

31. In the laying on of hands, the Bishop prays 
that God will defend his child (or servant) with His 
heavenly grace, that he may continue His forever, 
and daily increase in His Holy Spirit more and more, 
until he come to the heavenly kingdom. 

32. In the prayer that follows, the Bishop declares 
that he has laid his hands upon the candidate " after 
the example of the Apostles." 

33. In the same prayer he declares that the object 
of the ceremony is " to certify them by that sign, of 
God's favor and gracious goodness towards them." 
He does not claim to convey to them the Holy 
Ghost. 

Remarks and Exhortations. 

1. It is evident from this examination, that Con- 
firmation, in the view of the Church, is not a rite 
which stands midway between Infant Baptism and 
the Lord's Supper, in such a sense as that less spi- 



REMARKS AND EXHORTATIONS. 13 

ritual preparation and a lower grade of Christian 
obedience are contemplated in connection with its 
reception, than with that of Adult Baptism, or of 
the Supper of the Lord. 

2. It is equally evident that it is not considered 
by our Church as an ordinance in which and by 
virtue of which a person, previously without a reli- 
gious character, will be converted, accepted, and 
sanctified. 

3. But it is evidently an ordinance in which there 
is, by profession, and should be in reality, a surrender 
of the heart to God in Christ, and a sincere assump- 
tion of the vows of a religious life. 

4. The first solemn question, therefore, for those 
whose thoughts have been directed to the duty of 
Confirmation, to determine, is whether they have 
reached the state of heart and fully formed the pur- 
pose here described. 

5. If they can not answer this question satisfacto- 
rily, then it is their duty to inquire whether they 
may not, by the grace of God, come to that state of 
preparation before the rite of Confirmation shall be 
administered. 

6. In considering that question, they must remem- 
ber that the obstacles are in themselves : they must 
recall the love of God, the promises of Christ, the 
invitations and promises to prayer, the blessings 
attached to the exercise of faith, and the rewards 
bestowed on an ingenuous compliance with the 
arrangements and commands of God. 



14 



THE KITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



7. They must remember the awfulness of being 
condemned of God, and subject to his wrath and to 
everlasting death : they must remember that salva- 
tion is promised only to the penitent and believing, 
and damnation denounced against the impenitent 
and unbelieving. 

8. With these encouragements on the one hand, 
and this fearful doom on the other, they should take 
to their closets the solemn question — " Shall I be 
confirmed ?" 



LESSON II. 
t 

THE KITE OF CONFIRMATION. 

(Continued.) 

I. The Rite of Confirmation of Apostolic 
Origin. 

1. There is in Scripture the authority of Apostolic 
practice and Apostolic teaching for the rite of Con- 
firmation. 

2. It was an ancient custom to pronounce a bless- 
ing, accompanied by the laying on of hands. (Gen. 
48 : 12-20 ; Deut. 34 : 9 ; Matt. 19 : 13-15.) 

3. In the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, 14-17 v., we find an example of the laying of 
hands, by the Apostles, upon those who had been 



OF APOSTOLIC ORIGIN. 



15 



baptized. We also find another example in the 
19th chapter of the Acts. 

4. We infer that this practice was to be perpetu- 
ated in the Church, from the fact that, in the Epis- 
tle to the Hebrews, 6th chapter and 2d verse, "lay- 
ing on of hands" is mentioned as one of " the prin- 
ciples of the doctrine of Christ." 

5. By " the principles of the doctrine of Christ," 
is meant the most essential truths, facts, and perma- 
nent institutions of Christianity. 

6. This is evident, from the fact that (omitting 
the laying on of hands) all the remaining truths, 
and the remaining ordinances, are known, from other 
passages of the Bible, to be universal, and funda- 
mental, and permanent. The laying on of hands, 
therefore, being included among them, must be con- 
sidered as intended for a permanent ordinance in 
the Church. 

7. The laying on of hands can not refer to ordina- 
tion, because it would not then be, like the other 
truths and the sacrament enumerated in the same 
passage, an universal " principle of the doctrine of 
Christ." It would then apply only to a small class 
of believers, the ministry. But the other doctrines 
and the other sacrament mentioned apply to all be- 
lievers. The laying on of hands, in like manner, 
must be applicable to all. 

8. The gift of the Holy Ghost was bestowed upon 
those on whom the Apostles laid their hands. 

9. "In opposition to this view, it has been con- 



16 



THE KITE OF CONFIRM ATI ON. 



tended that the Apostles only intended the laying 
on of hands to be used in connection with the mirac - 
ulous powers of that period ; that, for the advance- 
ment of the kingdom of Christ, the gifts of tongues 
and of prophecy were granted to their prayers ; 
but that when these miraculous gifts ceased, the 
laying on of hands ceased with them ;" and there- 
fore, they deny that confirmation, as practised now, 
has any Apostolic foundation. 

10. In the 16th chapter of St. Mark, 15-17, it is 
declared by our Saviour that those who believe 
shall work miracles. 

11. From this, it follows that the miraculous gifts 
of the Holy Spirit were promised in connection with 
no particular ordinance, nor to every individual be- 
liever ; but, in general terms, to them that believe. 

12. We find, in fact, that miraculous gifts which 
were bestowed upon the first converts, were given, 
in some cases, before Baptism ; in some cases, after 
Confirmation; and in some cases, were not bestowed 
at all. 

13. That they were sometimes bestowed before 
Baptism, is proved by the case of Cornelius and his 
company, who, while Peter was preaching, began 
to speak and magnify God. (Acts 10 : 44-48.) 

14. That they were sometimes bestowed after 
Confirmation, is evident from the two cases men- 
tioned in the Acts of the Apostles. (Acts 8th and 
19th chapters.) 

15. That, in the case of many believers, these 



OF APOSTOLIC ORIGIN. 



17 



miraculous gifts were not bestowed at all, is evident 
from the 1st Corinthians 12 : 8-10, where it appears 
that while some gifts of the Spirit that were mirac- 
ulous were imparted to some believers, others, also, 
that were not miraculous, were imparted to oth- 
ers. 

16. From these facts, we infer that it was not the 
object of the laying on of hands to impart exclu- 
sively miraculous gifts, and that, therefore, it is not 
proved that the object of the custom of laying on of 
hands, was to impart exclusively miraculous gifts ; 
and that, therefore, it is not proved that the custom 
of laying on of hands should cease, because miracu- 
lous gifts have ceased. 

Bp. Hopkins's Primitive Church, pp. 70-75. 
Bp. Mcllvaine's Select Sermons, vol. ii., p. 240. 

17. As Confirmation is not regarded as a Sacra- 
ment, and has nothing superstitious or unscriptural 
connected with it, it maybe received as a rite which 
the Church has authority to institute, by those per- 
sons who can not regard it as of Apostolic appoint- 
ment and perpetual obligation. 

" The Church hath authority to decree rites and ceremonies." Article XX. 
See Bishop Brownell's Prayer Book, on the Article. Also, Bishop Burnet on 
the Articles, pp. 237-241. 

18. The Church does not, in any of her services 
or articles, place the rite on any other or higher 
ground than that of Apostolic practice. She does 
not claim for it an express command, direction, or 



18 



THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



announcement, that it should be continued in the 
Church. (See Lesson Z, Quest. 32.) 

II. Confirmation as a Confession of Christ. 

19. The performance of this rite furnishes a fit 
opportunity, in which believers may formally and 
solemnly confess Christ before men. (Matt. 10 : 32 ; 
Luke 12 : 2 ; Rom. 10 : 9.) 

20. This public confession of Christ can not be so 
properly made in the reception of the Lord's Sup- 
per, because that is evidence of a discipleship which 
is supposed to have been previously assumed. It 
must be made, therefore, either in adult Baptism, or 
in the renewal of the baptismal vow. 

21. It is proper that not only those for whom 
vows were made by others in their infancy, but that 
those also who made the vows for themselves in 
Adult Baptism, should renew them in the rite of Con- 
firmation, because we have Apostolic example for 
the practice ; and because the renewal of the solemn 
vow to one in higher office and authority, is calcu- 
lated to impress and solemnize the mind with a new 
sense of responsibility. 

22. In the previous Lesson, {Quest. 25, 26, 27,) we 
found that the vow of Confirmation implied the pos- 
session of a religious character, and the purpose to 
lead a Christian life ; and covered the whole ground 
of Christian obligation. 



QUALIFICATIONS. 



19 



III. Qualifications for Confirmation. 

23. The qualifications which are necessary in this 
view of Confirmation, for the reception of the rite, 
will be found specified in the Book of Common 
Prayer. 

24. The knowledge required, in the opening ad- 
dress of the Confirmation service, is that the candi- 
date should be able to say the Creed, the Lord's 
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and answer 
the questions contained in the Short Catechism. 

" The amount of knowledge required is placed at this low and simple 
mark, not by any means because it is not extremely important that all 
Christians should go on to increase in religious knowledge, to the utmost of 
their abilities and opportunities ; but it was necessary thus to place it, lest 
any of the young and the poor and the weak-minded, and of small oppor- 
tunities of knowledge, who nevertheless know enough to follow Christ, and 
who do truly follow him, should be excluded from the communion of His 
Church. 1 ' (Bp. 3fcllvaine on Confirmation.) 

25. The spiritual qualifications required are not 
stated in the service of Confirmation ; because they 
are specified in the Catechism and in the service for 
the administration of Baptism, and the Supper of 
the Lord, which Sacraments have been, or are to be, 
administered to those who are to be confirmed. 

" These spiritual qualifications are not expressed in that address of the 
Confirmation office, which speaks so plainly of what 'the Church hath 
thought good to order,' in regard to the knowledge required. And hence not 
a few have taken up the singular idea that what is specified in that address 
is the whole qualification of any kind demanded, as well spiritual as intel- 
lectual. But did the Church mean to teach that when a person comes to re- 
new and solemnly ratify and profess the vows of his Baptism, his only re 



20 



THE RITE OF COXPIEMATIOX. 



quired qualification is a knowledge of the nature and meaning of those 
vows, without any serious purpose, disposition, and determination by the help 
of God, and the use of all the means of grace, to comply with them; that 
when he confirms his renunciation of the world and of all sin, it shall 
not be required of him that he have the heart, and desire, and resolution 
actually to renounce them ; that when he ratifies his solemn engagement to 
keep the will of G-od to his life's end, it shall not be one part of his qualifi- 
cation that his affections be set upon that will, and his life be really conse- 
crated to that will ? The Church could not possibly be guilty of such an 
absurdity.'" {Bp. Mollvaine on Confirmation.} 

26. The Catechism teaches that the necessary qua- 
lifications for Baptism are, " Repentance, whereby 
they forsake sin, and faith, whereby they steadfastly 
believe the promises of God made to them in that 
sacrament." They are qualifications therefore which 
are necessary for those who renew in Confirmation 
the vows of Baptism. 

27. The Catechism teaches that it is required of 
those who come to the Lord's Supper, " to examine 
themselves whether they repent them truly of their 
former sins ; steadfastly purposing to lead a new life ; 
have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, 
with a thankful remembrance of his death ; and be 
in charity with all men." 

28. All the spiritual preparation and character 
which is specified or involved in the administration 
of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
are contemplated as belonging to the candidate for 
Confirmation. We infer, therefore, that without this 
preparation no person should be presented as a 
candidate for Confirmation. 

29. The rubric at the end of the Confirmation ser- 



REMARKS AND EXHORTATIONS. 



21 



vice which directs that " none shall be admitted to 
the holy communion until such time as he be con- 
firmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed," 
proves that it is the intention and the order of the 
Church that the reception of the rite of Confirmation 
should be an invariable condition of admission to the 
Supper of the Lord. ' 

Remarks and Exhortations. 

1. If you are convinced that Confirmation is an 
ordinance of Apostolic appointment and of perma- 
nent obligation, you can not without great sin, either 
decline to receive it, or neglect to prepare for its 
right reception. 

2. Even if you are not convinced that it is of 
Apostolic appointment and of permanent obligation, 
it yet becomes you " to fulfil all righteousness " in 
complying with that ordinance of the Church to 
which you belong, to which she has assigned the 
high office of enabling her children to confess Christ 
before men ; which has in it nothing unscriptural or 
superstitious ; and the administration of which is 
calculated to exert a solemn and salutary influence 
on your own heart, and on the hearts of the congre- 
gation. 

3. Nor if convinced of the authority of this rite 
and of the divine institution and obligation of the 
sacraments of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper, can 
you safely conclude that you may obtain, by faith 



22 



THE KITE OF CONFIRMATION. 



and prayer, from God the gift of pardon and of a 
new heart, even although yon decline to make an 
open confession of his name. " With the heart man 
believeth nnto righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:10.) 

4. If yon are not ready to make this confession, 
then that in which the very essence of true religion 
consists is wanting in you, which is the surrender of 
the heart to Him to do all his to ill. "Lord, what wile 
thou have me to do?" is the first question of a heart 
whole and right and true to God. And when 
Christ says, U I will have you openly profess my 
name, openly join my people, openly advocate my 
cause," and your heart refuses, how can it be loyal 
and true to him? how can it have the reality of re- 
ligion ? 

5. Even if it were possible to obtain a concealed 
religion, it would not be possible toretain it. (a.) For 
if it be in your heart, and not confessed, it will re- 
sult in the loss of your self-respect and conscious 
honesty ; in remorse, and in a sense of dishonor and 
of shame; and with them true religion can not abide. 
(&.) You would be without the aid and sympathy of 
Christian friends, whose prayers and loves are 
among God's chosen means of keeping the hearts of 
his children close to him. (c.) Your adversary, the 
devil, will have a fearful advantage over you. He 
will tempt you to do and say that to which, if you 
were Christ's avowed friend, you would not be 
tempted. 



FALSE REPENTANCE. 



23 



6. I pray you, therefore, to dismiss the delusion 
that you can become or remain a Christian, or be 
safe or happy, unless you seek Him, and give up 
your heart and life to him in the way that he has 
appointed. 



LESSON III. 

REPENTANCE. 

I. Repentance. 

1. We have learned in Lessons I. and II., that in 
Confirmation there is a renewal of the Baptismal 
vow, and that this is equivalent to the vow made in 
Adult Baptism ; and that the qualifications required 
for this Sacrament are Repentance and faith. 

2. The first qualification, therefore, into the nature 
of which it is important to inquire is Repentance. 

II. False Repentance. 

3. We learn in Scripture that there is a sorrow 
for sin which is not true Repentance, and does not 
secure the blessing and pardon of God. It is called 
" the sorrow of the world," and it is said of it that 
"it worketh death." (2 Cor. 7 : 10.) 



24 



REPENTANCE. 



4. " The sorrow of the world" is so called because 
it springs from worldly feelings and considerations ; 
and is contrasted with the godly sorrow which 
arises from the consideration of the heart and life in 
reference to God. 

III. Signs and Examples of false Repentance. 

5. That is not true Repentance which is sorrow 
for sin because of a fear of punishment. Such Re- 
pentance for sin, because of the fear of punishment, 
was exhibited by Saul and by Ahab. 

6. When Samuel announced to Saul that God had 
rejected him for his disobedience, and had rent the 
kingdom from him, and given it to another, then 
Saul said : 

" I have sinned ; yet honor me now, I pray, be- 
fore the eldest of my people and before Israel, and 
turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord 
my God." (1 Sam. 15 : 30.) 

7. When Elijah denounced the judgments of God 
against Ahab, then 

" It came to J3ass that when Ahab heard those 
words, that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth 
upon his flesh, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and 
went softly." (1 Kings 21 : 27.) 

8. In both these cases, their Repentance was 
proved to be the sorrow of the world that worketh 
death, and to have arisen from fear of punishment, 
by the fact that they returned to their former 
imquities. 



TRUE REPENTANCE. 25 

9. True Repentance does not consist in the sorrow 
caused by the external suffering and the fear which 
are the consequences of sin ; nor in the anguish of 
remorse. 

10. When Pharaoh was frightened, and his land 
suffered, because of the plague of locusts, he 

" Called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he 
said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and 
against you. Now therefore, forgive, I pray thee, 
my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your 
God that he may take away from me this death 
only." (Ex. 10 : 17.) 

11. When God uttered a curse against Cain, then 
" Cain said unto the Lord, my punishment is 

greater than I can bear." 

12. In these cases, it is seen that Pharaoh and 
Cain were sorry because of the consequences of 
their sins ; but did not truly repent of their sins. 

13. After Judas had betrayed and delivered up 
Jesus, it is recorded that " he repented himself," 
and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the 
chief priests and elders, and that " he went and 
hanged himself." (Matt. 27 : 3, 5.) This was re- 
morse — not true Repentance. 

IV. True Repentance. 

14. Godly sorrow, or true Repentance, is a sor- 
row, not account of the consequences of sin, but for 
the sin itself. David said : "I will be sorry for my 



26 



BEPEXTAXCE. 



sin." (Psaim 38 : 17.) " Mine iniquities are as a 
heavy burden." (Psalm 38 : 4.) 

2 Cor. 7 : 9-12 ; Psalm 42 : 9 ; 43 : 2 ; 1 Kings 8 : 33, 39 ; Joel 2:12. 

15. Godly sorrow is a sorrow for sin, not only 
because it is wrong in itself, but because it is com- 
mitted against God. When David repented of a 
great sin which he had committed against a fellow- 
being, he felt also that it was a great sin against 
God, and cried : " Against thee, thee only, have I 
sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." (Psalm 
51 : 4.) When the prodigal son returned to his 
father's house, he exclaimed : " I have sinned 
against Heaven, and before thee." (Luke 15 : 18.) 

16. True Repentance includes a sense of past 
ingratitude to Christ. " They shall look on me, 
whom they have pierced, and mourn." (Zech. 
12 : 10.) 

17. True Repentance is not a mere knowledge or 
consciousness that sin has been wrong in itself and 
offensive to God, but a feeling of distress, sorrow, 
shame, and humiliation, such as David expressed hi 
the 51st Psalm, and when he said: " Mine iniquities 
have gone over my head ; as a heavy burden, they 
are too heavy for me." (Psalm 38 : 4.) 

V. Feuits of Teue Repeotaxce. 

18. True Repentance is always followed by a con- 
fession of sin. David declared : "I acknowledge 



FRUITS OF TRUE REPEXTAXCE. 



2< 



my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." 
(Psalm 51:3.) 

Psalm 32 : 5 ; 1 Kings S : 47 ; Prov. 23 : 13 ; 1 John 1 : 9 ; 2 Chron. 7:14. 

19. It is also accompanied with an abhorrence of 
sin, because it is felt to be wrong and evil, and of- 
fensive to God. Its language is : "I will set no 
wicked thing before mine eyes ; I hate the work of 
them that turn aside ; it shall not cleave to me." 
(Psalm 101 : 3.) 

Psalm 119 : 104, 113, 12S, 1G3- 

20. It is followed by an abandonment of sin. 
The Repentance which results in amendment is the 
only kind which is accepted by God. " Repent, 
and turn from all your transgressions. So iniquity 
shall not be your ruin." (Ezekiel 18 : 30.) 

Acts 2G : 20 ; 1 Sam. 7 : 3 ; Is. 55 : 7 ; Jer. 3 : 12. 

21. It is connected with earnest efforts after uni- 
versal obedience. This is the purport of David's 
prayer in the 19th Psalm: "Who can understand 
his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. 
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous 
sins, lest they get the dominion over me ; then I 
shall be upright, and I shall be innocent from the 
great transgression." 

22. True Repentance is also accompanied with 
great carefulness to avoid relapses into sin, and to 
walk worthy of the Lord. Such was the repentance 
of the Corinthians, which was commended by St. 



28 



REPENTANCE. 



Paul. " For, behold ! this self-same thing that ye 
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it 
wrought in you ; yea, what cleansing of yourselves ; 
yea, what indignation ; yea, what fear ; yea, what 
vehement desire ; yea, what zeal ; yea, what re- 
venge ! In all things ye have proved yourselves to 
be clear in this matter." (2 Cor. 7:11.) 

VI. Repentance necessary for all Men. 

23. All men need to repent, because all have 
sinned. "All have sinned, and come short of the 
glory of God." (Rom. 3 : 23.) 

Job 9 : 20 ; Eccl. T : 20 ; Is. 64 : 6 ; 1 John 1 : S. 

24. All men need to repent, because it is the con- 
dition of forgiveness. " Repent, therefore, and be 
converted, that your sins may be blotted out." 
(Acts 3 : 19.) 

VII. How Repentance is obtained. 

25. Repentance is the gift of God through Christ, 
and must, therefore, be sought of him by prayer. 
St. Peter declares of Christ : " Him hath God 
exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and 
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and remis- 
sion of sins." (Acts 3 : 31.) 

2 Tim. 2 : 25 ; Acts 8 . 22. 



EXAMPLES OF TRUE EEPENTAXCE. 



29 



VIII. Promises costxected with Repentance. 

* 

26. A full pardon is promised to the true penitent. 
" Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unright- 
eous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the 
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him : and to our 
God, and he will abundantly pardon." 

Deut. 30 : 23 ; 2 Chron. 7 : 14 ; Is. 55 : 7 ; Jer. 4:1; Ezek. 33 : 14, 15. 

27. The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised, in 
connection with pardon, to the penitent. " Repent, 
and be baptized for the remission of sins ; and ye 
shall receive the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2 : 38.) 

IX. Examples op Tktte Repentance. 

28. Among the most striking examples of true 
Repentance in Scripture, are those of Job, (Job 
42 : 6,) Manasseh, (2 Chron. 33 : 13,) David, (Psalm 
51,) the woman that was a sinner, (Luke 7 : 37, 46,) 
and Peter, (Luke 22 : 62.) 

29. The parable of the prodigal son admirably 
illustrates the beginning, and progress, and results 
of true Repentance. It begins with reflection. 
(Luke 15 : 16.) This leads to a knowledge of his 
miserable condition, which is accompanied with 
conviction and self-loathing, and with faith in the 
kindness of his Father, with a resolution to appeal 
to his kindness ; and with an immediate resort to 



30 



REPENTANCE. 



his Father, a full confession of his guilt, and a full 
surrender of himself, in humility, to obey and serve 
him. 

Remarks and Exhortations. 

1. It is a truth which should be fixed in your 
mind, that all efforts to secure the favor of God, 
which are not preceded by Repentance, will be of 
no avail. 

2. It should be your determination, therefore, first 
of all, and immediately, to endeavor to exercise true 
Repentance. 

3. While you have a deep consciousness that Re- 
pentance is the gift of God, and that you can not, 
by your mere will, make yourself penitent, you 
should also remember that you can enter upon the 
use of means which will produce in your heart this 
needful grace. 

4. You can, and should "turn unto him" in 
prayer, in reliance upon his promises that " he wffl 
turn to you," with blessing. (Zech. 1:3.) 

5. You should examine yourselves, and recall 
your sins to remembrance, and compare them with 
the holy law and the holy character of God, that 
you may see their enormity, and be convicted oi 
guilt, and bowed down with shame. 

6. You should contemplate the character and 
words and works of Christ, that you may feel com- 
punction for neglecting so great mercy and salvation. 



FAITH IN ITS MOST GENERAL SENSE. 31 

7. And if you find your sorrow for sin is such as 
makes you hate it and avoid it, and strive after all 
obedience, and hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness, then you may be encouraged to hope that 
your Repentance is true and acceptable to God, and 
that yours is the lowly and contrite heart in which 
God is pleased to dwell. 



LESSON IV. 
FAITH. 
I. Faith. 

1. Faith is everywhere in Scripture described as 
the indispensable condition and the necessary instru- 
ment of salvation. 

II. Faith in its most General Sense. 

2. Faith, in its most general sense, is a belief in 
the existence of God and his government of his 
creatures, which we must exercise in order to please 
him. He that cometh unto God must believe that 
he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that 
diligently seek him. (Heb. 11 : 6.) 

3. The want of this faith is denounced as a sin. 
" The Lord said, How long shall this people provoke 



32 



FAITH. 



me ? How long will it be ere they believe me, for 
all the signs I have showed among them ?" (Xum. 
14 : 11, 12.) 

Num. 20 : 12 ; Deut. 1 : 32-36. 

4. It is a sin, because it is manifestly a duty to 
believe God, who knows all things and who can not 
lie. 

5. It is a sin, because it is not a mere act of the 
intellect, which must believe truth if the evidence is 
sufficient, and can not believe it if the evidence is 
not sufficient ; but it arises from an evil heart, which 
withholds the mind from attending to the evidence, 
or prevents it from giving to that evidence its just 
weight. It is not a mistake of the mind ; but it is 
an " evil heart of unbelief." 

6. The Scriptures never call ujion us to believe 
any thing without furnishing us with the proof of it. 

7. They never demand our faith hi any thing that 
is contradictory, though they call upon us to believe 
much that is incomprehensible. A fact may be 
believed and known to be true, which is incompre- 
hensible. We know that to be true which we see, 
although we may not understand it. We believe 
that to be*true which is proved to us, though it be 
both unseen and incomprehensible, 

III. Faith tn the Woed of God. 

8. We can not believe and act upon the truths of 
the Bible, unless we believe it to be a revelation 



FAITH 1^" THE WOED OF GOD. 



33 



from Gocl to man ; written in the manner and by 
the persons it professes to be. 

9. We may believe that the books of the Bible 
were written at the time and manner and by the 
persons which they profess to be, in the same way 
that we believe the books of Cicero and Virgil, and 
other ancient authors, to have been written by those 
to whom they are attributed. This belief, confirmed 
by what is found in them, which commends them to 
us as true, is that which most persons must have of 
the truth of the Bible ; and is sufficient to enable 
those who hold it to derive from it all the blessings 
it conveys. 

10. If we are not satisfied to take the books of the 
Bible as we do other books, on the fact that they 
have been transmitted from age to age as authentic, 
then we can enter upon the study of the evidence 
of Christianity, by which it is proved that the books 
were written at the time and by the persons which 
they purport to have been, and that the things nar- 
rated in the books are true. 

11. Having learned that the books of Scripture 
are what they profess to be, and narrate what is 
true, we see from them that Jesus performed mira- 
cles to prove that he came from God, and that all 
that he said was true ; and as the first disciples 
believed him because they saw his miracles, so we 
believe him because we fcnoio from testimony that 
they were wrought. 

12. Our Saviour appealed to this proof of his 



34 



FAITH. 



divine mission and character. When the Jews said 
to him, " How long dost thou make us to doubt ? 
If thou be the Christ tell us plainly," he answered : 
" I told you and ye believed not ; the works that I 
do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." 
(John 10 : 25 ; 10 : 37-38.) 

13. We are to believe, then, in the word of God, 
and receive and act upon that which Christ, and the 
Apostles whom he inspired with his Holy Spirit, 
declare to be truth and duty. 

IV. Faith in Christ. 

14. To believe in Christ is everywhere in the 
New Testament enjoined as necessary to salvation. 
(Acts 16 : 30, 31 ; John 3 : 15, 16.) 

15. The belief in Christ mentioned here is not 
mere belief in the truth of Christ's mission and his 
words ; though this belief precedes and is included 
in it. 

16. St. James says that there is a faith which is 
dead, and compares it to that of the devils, who 
believe and tremble. (James 2 : 19, 20.) There 
may be such faith in Christ. 

17. Faith in Christ is a belief that he died to save 
all who will go to him for salvation ; a personal trust 
in him for our own salvation ; an actual resort to 
him in the way that he commands. 

18. Repentance (as we saw in Lesson III.) must 
accompany faith in Christ. 



FAITH VS CHRIST. 



19. We are hindered from exercising this faith 
by our sinfulness of nature and by the love of sin. 
" No man can come to me except the Father which 
hath sent me draw him." (John 6 : 44.) " This is 
the condemnation that light is come into the world, 
and men loved darkness rather than light because 
their deeds are evil." (John 3:19.) 

20. This faith must be given to us by God. 
" Peter said to Jesus, Thou art Christ the Son of 
the living God ; Jesus said unto him, Blessed art 
thou, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood have not 
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in 
heaven." (Matt. 16 : 16, 17.) "By grace are ye 
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is 
the gift of God." (Eph. 2 : 8.) 

John 1 : 13 ; 1 John 4 : 14, 15 ; 1 John 5:1; Rom. 12 : 13. 

21. This faith is promised to those who pray for 
and seek it. " Ask and it shall be given you ; seek 
and ye shall find ; knock and it shall be opened unto 
you ; for every one that asketh receiveth ; and he 
that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it 
shall be opened." (Matt, 7 : 7, 8.) " If ye then, 
being evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
children, how much more shall your Father which 
is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
him." (Luke 11 : 13.) 

22. When faith is true and living, it must be from 
the heart; because it supposes the heart to have 
overcome the love of sin, and to have, through grace, 



36 



FAITH. 



a love and desire of holiness. " With the heart man 
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10 : 10.) 
" And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine 
heart, thou niayest. 55 (Acts 8:37.) 

23. By faith we are justified. To be justified is, 
in the meaning of Scripture, to be declared justly 
free from the curse and punishment of sin. There- 
fore we conclude that a man is justified by faith 
without the deeds of the law. (Rom. 3 : 28.) 
"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 55 (Rom. 
5 : I.) 

Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4 : 3, 9 ; Gal. 3: 6; Sam. 2:23; John 5 : 24 ; Acta 
13 : 39 ; Rom. 3 : 21, 22, 25, 26 ; Rom. 4 ; 5 ; Rom. 10 : 4 ; Gal. 2 : 16 ; Gal. 
3 : S, 9, 11, 12, 22, 24 ; Phil. 3 : S, 9, 10. 

24. The doctrine of justification by faith only is 
proclaimed in the Xlth Article, in these words : 
"We are accounted righteous before God only by 
the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by 
faith ; and not for our own works or desirings. 
Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a 
most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort, 
as is more fully expressed in the homily of justifica- 
tion. 55 

Articles XII. and XIII. of " Good Works," and " of Good Works before 
Justification, r follow logically from the statement made in the Xlth Article 
that justification is by faith only. Article XTTL proclaims the worthlessness 
of works done before justification in respect to justifying, and Article XII. 
announces that the good works which are the fruits of faith and follow 
after justification, though they are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, 



FAITH m CHRIST. 37 

yet " can not put away sin." " The putting away of sin' 1 is denied both to 
good works before and after justification, and is attributed wholly to faith — 
to faith alone. 

25. By faith we are sanctified or made holy 
through the reception and influence of the Holy 
Spirit. "Purifying their hearts by faith." (Acts 
15 : 9.) "That they may receive an inheritance 
among them that are sanctified by faith in me." 
(Acts 26 : 18.) 

26. Faith works by love to Christ and to his peo- 
ple. " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
availeth any thing nor uncircumcision, but faith that 
worketh by love." (Gal. 5 : 6.) 

27. By faith the temptations of the world are 
overcome. "For whatsoever is born of God over- 
cometh the world, and this is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith." (1 John 5 : 4.) 

28. Faith is the origin of good works, and good 
works are the fruit of faith. " What doth it profit 
my brother though a man say he hath faith and 
have not works?" (James 2 : 14.) " As the body 
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is 
dead also." (James 2 : 26.) 

29. By faith we have access to God. "In whom 
we have boldness and access with confidence by the 
faith of him." (Eph. 3 : 12.) 

All the blessings of salvation are attributed to faith, as the instrument 
by which we receive pardon, are justified, and obtain the manifold gifts of 
the Holy Spirit, We live by faith. (Gal. 2 : 10.) We walk by faith. (2 Cor. 
5 ; T.) We conquer by faith. (1 John 5 : 4.) Grace and peace come from 
faith. (2 Peter 1 : 1, 2.) Joy and comfort, (John 14 : 1 ; 1 Peter 1:8; 
Rom. 15 : 13,) light and guidance, (John 12 : 30 ; 1:0; 8 : 12.) 



38 



FAITH. 



Remarks and Exhortations. 

1. From this Lesson we learn that the answer to 
the question, " What must I do to be saved ?" is, 
" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall 
be saved." " Only believe, and thou shall see the 
salvation of God." 

2. This answer is full of encouragement to one 
who is earnest to secure his salvation, because it 
does not present to him the impossible task of secur- 
ing salvation by his own holiness and good works. 
It is presented to him as that which he is to receive 
as a gift. 

3. But while it is encouraging to the earnest and 
honest-hearted inquirer after salvation, it by no 
means sanctions indolence and carelessness, or holds 
out a hope to those who are unwilling to take up 
the cross, and deny themselves and follow Christ. 

4. For though salvation be a free gift, received 
through faith, yet this faith can not be exercised but 
by those who give themselves to prayer, and seek 
the aid of the Holy Spirit, and repent of their sins, 
and resolve to lead a life of holy obedience. 

5. It is therefore a dangerous delusion to suppose 
that the exercise of this living and saving faith is so 
easy that it may be postponed with impunity, and 
exhibited at any future time. Habits of sin ; re- 
fusals to yield to the calls of grace ; resistances of 
the Holy Spirit ; will make the exercise of saving 
and justifying faith more and more difficult. 



THE BAPTISM OF JOHIS". 



39 



6. Now, therefore, " now when the Spirit and the 
Bride" — the grace of God and the Church of God — 
" say come," " now is the accepted time, now is the 
day of salvation." 



LESSON V. 
BAPTISM. 

I. Baptism among the Jews. 

1. The rite of admission to the Jewish Church, 
established by God, was circumcision. 

2. Baptism was administered by the Jews to the 
proselytes or converts to their faith, as part of the 
ceremony of their admission. 

"It is strange to me that any one should doubt of this, when it is plain 
from express passages in the Jewish law that no Jew who had lived like a 
G-entile for one day, could be restored to the communion of this Church 
without it. Compare Num. 19 : 19, 20, and many other precepts relating to 
ceremonial pollutions, in which may be seen that the Jews were rendered 
incapable of appearing before G od in the Tabernacle or Temple, till they were 
washed either by bathing or sprinkling." (Dr. Doddridge.) 

II. The Baptism of Joh:n\ 

3. The Baptism of John was preparatory to, and 
not identical with, the Baptism instituted by Christ. 
It seemed to be an enrollment and setting apart of 
those who were looking for, and would be prepared 
to receive, the Messiah at his coming. 



40 



BAPTISM. 



The following points of difference between John's Baptism and that of 
Christ have been noticed in " Buck's Theological Dictionary." The imme- 
diate institutor of John's Baptism was God, the Father, (John 1 : 33 ;) but the 
immediate institutor of Christian Baptism was Christ. (Matt. 28 : 19.) John's 
Baptism was a preparatory rite, referring the subjects to Christ, who was 
about to confer on them spiritual blessings. (Matt. 3 : 11.) John's Baptism 
was confined to the Jews ; but Christian Baptism was extended to Jews and 
Gentiles. (Matt. 3 : 5, 7 ; Matt. 28 : 19.) It does not appear that John had any 
formula of administration ; but the Christian Baptism has, namely, " In the 
name," etc. The Baptism of John was the concluding scene of the legal 
dispensation, and in fact, part of it ; and to be considered as one of the 
" divers washings" among the Jews. But Christian Baptism is the regular 
entrance into, and is part of the evangelical dispensation. John himself 
administered the Baptism which he established; Christ baptized none ; but 
his disciples baptized by his authority and in his name. 



III. Chsistia^ Baptism. 

4. It is evident that Baptism must, at first, have 
been administered chiefly to adults ; and that the 
language of Scripture in reference to it regards this 
class of recipients. 

5. The qualifications necessary for the reception of 
this sacrament are Repentance and faith. 

6. On the day of Pentecost St. Peter answered to 
those who asked what they must do : " Repent and 
be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, for the remission of sins." (Acts 2 : 38.) 

7. Faith is also enjoined in order to the reception 
of this sacrament by our Saviour, in these words : 
" He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved." 
(Mark 16 : 16.) 

8. Repentance and faith, as we have seen in Les- 
sons III. and IV., are the gift of God, and the fruits 
of the Holy Ghost. 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. 



41 



9. Hence it is evident that the Holy Ghost is not 
to be received exclusively through the sacrament of 
Baptism, but that it must be received in order to 
qualify the recipient for Baptism. 

10. This is proved by the language and conduct 
of St. Peter in the Acts of the Apostles, (10 : 47, 48,) 
who when the Holy Ghost was poured out on the 
Gentiles, said : " Can any man forbid water that these 
should be baptized, who have received the Holy 
Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to 
be baptized in the name of the Lord." Here the 
previous reception of the Holy Ghost is affirmed by 
St. Peter to be the fit qualification and the condi- 
tion of Baptism. 

11. Confusion and misapprehension have arisen 
with regard tp the doctrine of Baptism, from taking 
the meaning of the word as it is used in one place in 
Scripture, and attaching it to the word in another 
place, where it has a different meaning. 

12. The word Baptism is used in Scripture some- 
times to express the outward ordinance ; sometimes 
to express the inward grace, and sometimes to ex- 
press both the outward ordinance and the inward 
grace of Baptism. 

13. It is used to express the outward ordinance in 
the words of St. Peter, (Acts 2:38:) " Repent and 
be baptized, every one of you," etc. 

John 4:2; Mark 16 : 16 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 14. 

14. It is used to express the inward grace of Bap- 
tism in Luke 3:16, where John the Baptist says : 



42 



BAPTISM. 



" One mightier then I cometh. He shall baptize you 
with the Holy Ghost." 

1 Cor. 12 : 18. 

15. It was used to express both the outward rite 
and the inward grace, by Ananias when he said to 
St. Paul : " Arise and be baptized, and wash away 
thy sins," (Acts 22 : 16 ;) and still more distinctly by 
St. Peter, when he said : " Baptism doth also now 
save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the 
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards 
God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 

Col. 2:12; Gal. 3 : 27, 28. 

16. It is by applying the promises and declara- 
tions connected with the Baptism of the Spirit, 
and with the double Baptism of " water and of the 
Spirit," to the external institution of Baptism with 
water, that false and superstitious ideas of the na- 
ture and efficacy of this sacrament have arisen and 
are still entertained. 

Catechism of Council of Trent, 150-152. " Tracts for the Times," vol. 2, 
p. 2), et sequent. "Ives, Obedience of Faith," p. 11. 

17. The view of the Church of Rome is that the 
Holy Ghost is given, and that the divine fife in the 
soul commences with the sacrament of Baptism. 

18. The view of our Church is, that the Holy 
Ghost is given to the heart through the hearing of 
the word of God, and in answer to prayer ; and that 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are signs and seals 



CHEISTIAN BAPTISM. 



43 



of grace received ; and means or instruments of re- 
newing and confirming grace, (Article XXV.) 

19. Baptism is obligatory upon all believers, and 
is, according to the definition of the Catechism, 
" generally necessary to salvation." 

The Church, while she announces the sacraments as the conditions of sal- 
vation, does not assert that they are the indispensable conditions, without 
which salvation never could be obtained ; but uses the moderate language 
which we have quoted from the Catechism. This is in accordance with her 
views of the sacraments. If, in her judgment, they were the only con- 
veyances of grace, then they would not be " generally," but invariably and 
universally necessary to salvation. But inasmuch as they are not the ex- 
clusive channels and the originating causes of grace, but only " signs," 
"pledges," " badges," and " means," of grace, they are only " generally ne- 
cessary." With this view agree the words of the Baptismal service, where, 
after quoting the Scriptural injunctions and examples of Baptism, it pro- 
ceeds to say : " Which also showeth unto us the great necessity of this sacra- 
ment where it may be had."' 

20. Baptism was made a condition of salvation by 
our blessed Lord in his interview with Nicodemus. 
Jesus answered : " Verily, verily, I say unto you ex- 
cept a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he 
can not enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) 

21. Christ made it a condition of salvation that 
his disciples should confess him before men. It was 
by Baptism that this confession was to be made, and 
the first converts were all baptized. (Acts 11.) 

22. The remission of sin was connected with the 
right reception of Baptism. Peter said : " Repent 
and be baptized every one of you hi the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." (Acts 
2 : 38.) 



44 



BAPTISM. 



23. The gift of the Holy Ghost was bestowed in 
the sacrament of Baptism for the sanctification of 
the believer's heart. " Ye are buried with Christ in 
Baptism ; wherein also ye are risen with him through 
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised 
him from the dead." (Col. 2:12.) 

Rom. 6 : 3, 4 ; Gal. 3 : 27 : 28. 

It is not the converting, but the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost 
that is bestowed in Baptism. 

IV. The Church's Doctrine op Baptism. 

24. These views of Baptism, derived from the 
Scriptures, are embodied in the XXVIIth Article 
of the Church. 

25. That Article describes the outward Baptism, 
which follows that inward Baptism of the Holy 
Ghost, by which the graces of Repentance and faith 
are bestowed. 

26. Baptism is there described as a sign or badge 
of Christian profession or discipleship. 

27. It is also defined to be a sign of regeneration 
or new birth. 

28. This language implies that Baptism is not the 
cause of regeneration, but the sign or symbol of the 
new birth unto righteousness which had preceded it, 
and was in possession when the symbol was imposed. 

29. It is an instrument not by which we are born 
again, but by which they who receive Baptism 
rightly — that is, as is evident by conrparing this 



INFANT BAPTISM. 



45 



Article with the XXVth, " they who worthily and in 
faith recewe the same" — are grafted into the Church. 

30. In this sacrament, thus rightly received, the 
promises of forgiveness of sins, and of adoption to 
be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are (not 
then fast fulfilled but) then visibly signed and seal- 
ed ; faith is confirmed and grace increased, by virtue 
of prayer to God. 

V. Infant Baptism. 

31. In the XXVIIth Article the Church declares 
that " the Baptism of young children is in any wise 
to be retained in the Church as most agreeable with 
the institution of Christ." 

32. The ground on which it is retained is not that 
it was expressly commanded in the word of God in 
explicit terms, but on the ground of its agreeable- 
ness or conformity with the institution of Christ. 

33. The Baptism instituted by Christ was to be 
proclaimed and administered to all nations. (Matt. 
38 : 18-20.) 

34. There is no place in Scripture which limits its 
application to adults, or forbids it to be administered 
to children. 

35. As children were taken into covenant with 
God under the Jewish dispensation by the rite of 
circumcision, we infer that they were also to be 
taken into covenant with God in the Christian Church 
by the sacrament of Baptism ; unless we find in 
Scripture some express prohibition. 



40 



BAPTISM. 



36. If Jewish children had not been allowed to be 
baptized with their parents when they became Christ- 
ians, it is in the highest degree probable that there 
would have been allusions to that fact in the sacred 
Scriptures. 

37. The language of our Saviour — "Suffer little 
children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for 
of such is the kingdom of heaven," (Matt. 19 : 14,) 
seems to imply that they were to be permitted to 
belong to his Church or kingdom, as they were un- 
der the Jewish dispensation. 

38. We find some instances in Scripture in which 
whole households were baptized, and it is a just in- 
ference that among them were children. The Jailer 
and " all his" were baptized. (Acts 16 : 33.) 

Acts 16 : 15 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 16. 

39. It was the practice of the primitive Church to 
baptize infants. 

VI. Baptismal Offices. 

40. The Baptismal service for infants is constructed 
on the principles already found with regard to Bap- 
tism in the Scriptures and in the XXVIIth Article 
of the Church. 

41. From both these sources we found that Re- 
pentance and faith are always qualifications which 
must precede the reception of Baptism. 

42. To the question in the Catechism, "Why then 
are infants baptized when by reason of their tender 



BAPTISMAL OFFICES. 



41 



age they can not perform them?" the answer is re- 
turned, " Because they promise them both by their 
sureties, which promise, when they come to age 
themselves, are bound to perform." 

43. This answer implies, not that infants are 
changed in heart by the Holy Ghost in Baptism ; 
but that they are allowed to be baptized because 
they promise (by their sureties) repentance and faith ; 
and, therefore, on their profession of repentance and 
faith, they are pronounced regenerated in Baptism. 

44. As their Repentance and faith are not real but 
only promised and supposed ; so the spiritual re- 
generation spoken of is not then present, but only 
promised and supposed by anticipation, on the 
ground of the promised Repentance and faith. 

45. Hence it is evident that the words after Bap- 
tism, "this Child is regenerated and grafted into 
Christ's Church," do not convey the meaning that 
the soul of the child is then and thus made holy ; but 
that it is so hypothetical^, on the ground of promis- 
ed repentance and faith. 

46. Baptism administered to infants is, (1.) A 
badge of a Christian profession. (2.) It is a symbol 
of the spiritual regeneration. (3.) It is the initiatory 
rite into the visible Church. (4.) It is a covenant- 
ing and sealing ordinance, in which the forgiveness 
of all sins, and the privileges of adopted children are 
secured and to be exteiided by God to the child, upon 
the fulfillment on his part of the promises made by 
the sponsors. 



48 



BAPTISM. 



VII. Pkivate Baptism of Childeen. 

47. "The ministration of private Baptism of 
children in houses," is an office provided for cases of 
great necessity, when, from sickness or other causes, 
children can not be brought into the church. 

VIII. The Vows of Baptism. 

48. In Confirmation the vows made in the name 
of infants are by themselves renewed and confirm- 
ed, when they come of age to take them upon them- 
selves ; and hence it is important that they should 
be solemnly considered. 

49. The answer to the first question is a renun- 
ciation of the " Devil and all his works — the vain 
pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous de- 
sires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh, 
with a promise not to follow nor be led by them." 

50. Because when we enter into covenant with 
God, we are his friends and servants, it is right that 
we should renounce him who is at the same time 
God's great enemy and our own ; and hence, we 
renounce "the devil," and we renounce "all his 
works," which are against God and his kingdom. 

James 4 : 7 ; 1 Peter 5 : 8 ; 1 John 3 : 8, 10 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 26. 

51. "We renounce "thevajn pomp and glory of 
the world," because it comes from and expresses the 
pride and the passion of hearts that are unreconciled 



THE VOWS OF BAPTISM. 



49 



to God ; and because the Scriptures admonish us to 
" love not the world, neither the things that are in 
the world ; for all that is in the world, the lust of the 
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 
is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 John 
2 : 15, 16.) 

52. The covetous desires of the same, and the 
sinful desires of the flesh are renounced, because 
" out of the heart are the issues of life," and we can 
not, therefore, keep ourselves from a sinful life if we 
indulge sinful desires in the heart ; and because, if 
we could, God could not accept our obedience if it 
were connected with an unholy heart, which we made 
no effort and sought no grace to overcome. 

53. As faith in Christ and in all the truths which 
he has revealed is necessary for Baptism, we declare, 
in answer to the second question, that we believe all 
the articles of the Christian faith as contained in the 
Apostles' creed. 

54. To the third question we answer, that it is Our 
desire to be baptized in this faith. 

55. In answer to the fourth question we declare 
our purpose to comply with the condition of Bap- 
tism, which is, " Obediently to keep God's holy will 
and commandments, and walk in the same all the 
days of our life." 1 

56. The service for the Baptism of adults differs 
from, that for infants chiefly in the fact that the can- 
didate makes his promises in his own name, and has 
witnesses instead of sponsors. 



50 



BAPTISM. 



Remarks ais t d Exhortations. 

1. We learn from this examination that no one 
can refuse the sacrament of Baptism, and expect to 
receive the blessing of God and forgiveness of his 
sins ; because God has connected them with this 
sacrament, and declared, that whosoever will not 
confess him before men, he will not confess before 
his Father and the angels. 

2. We learn that no one can rely upon the mere 
external rite of Baptism, as that which has already 
or which will make his soul pure through the gift 
of the Holy Ghost ; but that he must receive from 
the Holy Ghost the graces of repentance and faith, 
before we can receive the blessings of Baptism. 

3. We learn that whoever receives Baptism with 
a penitent and believing heart, has his sins forgiven 
in that sacrament ; or in the renewal of its vows in 
Confirmation ; and is thereby made a member of 
Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the king- 
dom of heaven. 

4. The solemn question is therefore now before 
you — " Will you renew your vows and receive par- 
don for your sins, and become a child of God, and 
be prepared for heaven ? or will you disown or re- 
fuse to ratify and confirm them, and thus remain a 
child of sin and death, condemned of God and con- 
signed to woe ?" May the grace of God enable you 
to choose that good part, which is at once duty, 
safety, peace, and joy ! 



THE SCRIPTURES' ACCOUNT. 



51 



LESSON VI. 

THE LOED'S SUPPEE. 

I. The Scriptures' Account of the Lord's 
Supper. 

1. The nature and office of the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper are to be found in a few passages of 
the word of God, which give an account of its in- 
stitution. 

2. The first, account of its institution is found in 
St. Matthew 26 : 20, 26-30. 

" Now when the even was come, he sat down with 
the twelve." (v. 20.) " And as they were eating, 
Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and 
gave it to the disciples, and said, c Take, eat, this is 
my body.' And he took the cup, and gave thanks, 
and gave it to them, saying, 6 Drink ,ye all of it, for 
this is my blood of the New Testament, which is 
shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say 
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of 
the vine until that day, when I drink it new with 
you in my Father's kingdom.' And when they had 
sung an hymn they went out to the mount of Olives." 
(26-29.) 



52 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



3. An account of the institution of this sacrament 
is also given by St. Mark, 14 : 20, in these words : 

" And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and bless- 
ed and brake it, and gave it to them, and said, c Take, 
eat, this is my body.' And he took the cup, and 
when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and 
they all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is 
my blood of the Xew Testament, which is shed for 
many. Verily, I say unto you, I will drink no more 
of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I chink it 
new in the kingdom of God. And when they had 
sung an hymn they went out into the mount of 
Olives." 

4. St. Luke also records the same institution in 
the 22d chapter 19th and 20th verses, in these words: 
"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake 
it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body 
which is given for you ; this do in remembrance of 
me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 
This cup is the Xew Testament in my blood, which 
is shed for you.' " 

5. The fullest account of this sacrament is given 
by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 11 : 23-30 in these words : 

" For I have received of the Lord that which also 
I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same 
night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and 
when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
Take, eat ; this is my body which is broken for you ; 
this do in remembrance of me. After the same 
manner also he took the cup, when he had supped. 



THE SCRIPTURES' ACCOUNT. 



53 



saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood ; 
this do as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. 
For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye 
do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, 
whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of 
the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and 
blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, 
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that 
cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, 
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not dis- 
cerning the Lord's body." 

6. Reference is also made to this sacrament in the 
1st Cor. 10 : 16, 17: "The cup of blessing which 
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of 
Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the 
communion of the body of Christ ? For we, being 
many, are one bread and one body ; for we are all 
partakers of that one bread." 

7. From these Scripture testimonies we find, first, 
that bread and wine constitute the matter of the 
sacrament ; the one broken and given to the disciples 
to be eaten, the other presented to them to be 
drunken. 

8. We find secondly that the bread and. wine are 
employed as symbols of the body and blood of Christ 
in remembrance or for a memorial of the Saviour's 
death. (St. Luke 22 : 19, 20.) 

1 Cor. 11 : 24, 25. 

9. We find, in the third place, that the sacrament 
is a seal of the new covenant for the remission of 



54 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



sins, through the blood of the Redeemer ; a seal 
which God affixes to his covenant, and to which we 
anew subscribe our faithful adherance, as often as 
we commemorate the Saviour's death. 

10. "We find, lastly, that it is a means of grace to 
the faithful recipient. (1 Cor. 10:17.) 

11. Besides these four particulars which constitute 
the great positive features of its institution, some 
other important inferences, which confute prevailing 
errors, are deducible from these passages of Scrip- 
ture. 

12. It is evident that the elements of bread and 
wine undergo no other change than that of being 
set apart to a holy use, from the fact that they are 
called bread and wine after being thus set apart. 

Mark 14 : 25 ; 14 : 22 ; 1 Cor. 11-23. 

13. It is evident also that the expressions, "this is 
my body," " this is my blood," mean nothing more 
than that the bread and wine represent or symbolize 
his body and blood ; in the same way as the expres- 
sions of our Saviour, " I am the vine," (John 15 : 5,) 
" I am the door," (John 10:7,) "I am the way," 
(John 14 : 6,) are manifestly intended to convey the 
idea that the door, the vine, and the way are figures 
or representations of him. 

14. It is also evident that the reception of this 
sacrament is of benefit to the soul, only on the con- 
dition that there be a right preparation of the heart 
for it. (1 Cor. 11 : 28-30. Article XXVIII.) 



THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE. 



55 



15. It is clear, also, that the prominent purpose for 
which this sacrament was instituted, was that it 
should be a perpetual memorial of his death upon 
the cross for the world's sin. This appears from 
the language of the Saviour. " This do in remem- 
brance of me." (Luke 22 : 19.) " This do in remem- 
brance of me." " This do ye as oft as ye drink it 
in remembrance of me." "As oft as ye eat this 
bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's 
death till he come." (1 Cor. 11 : 24, 25, 26.) 

16. As the Saviour enjoins upon his disciples to 
partake of this sacrament in remembrance of him, 
and does not designate any other object of its institu- 
tion, we can not err hi concluding its primary ob- 
ject and its generic character to be that of a me- 
morial. 

17. To this divinely instituted and obligatory me 
morial of his death, Christ has assigned several offices 
and attached various blessings. It is a seal of the 
new covenant wherein forgiveness of sin is pledged; 
it is a sign of the spiritual union of believers ; it is a 
perpetual witness to the world of the sacrifice of the 
cross ; it is a means of grace, and of peace and com- 
fort to the believer. 

II. The Church's Doctrine of the Lord's 
Supper. 

18. Such as we have found this sacrament in the 
word of God, we shall find it in the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer. 



56 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



19. The Communion service in our Prayer Book 
differs from that of the Church of England chiefly in 
having added to it, from the Liturgy of the Church 
of Scotland, the " oblation" and " invocation," in the 
prayer of consecration. 

Bp. Brownell's Family Prayer Book. 

Bp. White's Memoirs of the Prot. Epis. Church, p. 154. 

20. The names of this sacrament, "The Lord's 
Supper" or " Holy Communion," are taken from the 
terms applied to it by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 11 : 20, 
and 1 Cor. 10: 16. 

21. The first Rubric directs the minister to exclude 
from the Communion " any open and notorious evil- 
liver," or one who has " done any wrong to his 
neighbor by word or deed, so that the congregation 
is thereby offended." 

22. The second Rubric provides that the minister 
pursue the same course towards those who live* in 
enmity, and refuse to repent and be reconciled, and 
make restitution for the wrong and enmity of which 
they have been guilty. 

23. The third Rubric directs that the table at the 
communion time shall have a fair linen cloth upon 
it, and stand in the body of the church or chancel. 

24. The word table is used throughout this service 
instead of altar, as in the first draught of the Prayer 
Book, in order to exclude the idea that Christ was 
present in the elements, and was offered up by the 
priests as a sacrifice to God. 

25. The Lord's Prayer is introduced into this and 



THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE. 



57 



all the principal services of the Church as a mark of 
reverence, obedience, and gratitude to our Saviour, 
who gave to us this prayer, and said, " When ye 
pray say, 4 Our Father,' " etc. 

26. The Ten Commandments are properly intro- 
duced into this service, because it is our duty solemnly 
to examine ourselves, " before we presume to eat of 
that bread, and drink of that cup ;" and the moral 
law, contained in these commandments, is the rule 
by which we should examine and judge ourselves. 

27. After the Ten Commandments follow the Col- 
lect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day ; notices of the 
Holy Days that are to be observed, and of the Com- 
munion ; and then the Sermon and the Offertory. 

28. The Offertory includes Scripture exhortations 
and promises in reference to the duty of supporting 
the ministers of Christ, and giving alms to the poor. 

29. This practice of presenting alms and offerings 
at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, is very an- 
cient ; and is very proper as a mark of gratitude for 
the inestimable blessings which the sacrament ex- 
presses and conveys ; and as a significant sign of the 
consecration of ourselves and our substance to the 
service of God. 

30. The prayer for the whole state of Christ's 
Church militant fulfills, in the most solemn service of 
the Church, the injunction of the Apostle Paul, 
(l Tim. 2:1,) that supplications, prayers, interces- 
sions, and giving of thanks, should be made for all 
men, for kings, and for all that are in authority. 

3* 



58 



THE LORD'S SUPPEE. 



31. This prayer, in the first Liturgy, contained a 
commemoration of the Virgin Mary, and a prayer 
for the dead ; the omission of which is proof of the 
Church's rejection of these superstitious and unscrip- 
tural practices. 

32. The two exhortations which follow, one of 
which is to be read on the Sunday preceding the 
Communion, are among the most faithful, affection- 
ate and earnest specimens of Gospel preachingany- 
where to be found. 

33. The next exhortation, which is to be used at 
the celebration of the Holy Communion, enjoins the 
duty of coming to the feast with self-examination, 
penitence, faith, charity, and thanksgiving. 

34. After this exhortation, the communicants are 
invited to draw near, and take the Holy Sacrament 
to their comfort, confessing, and listening to the pro- 
clamation of pardon for their sins, in the confession 
and absolution which follow. 

35. Four sentences of Scripture follow, admirably 
calculated to cheer and elevate the heart. 

36. Then follow the versicles and the trisagion, 
a portion of the service which is found in all the an- 
cient offices for the Communion, and is most suit- 
able to this eucharistic service. 

37. A prayer immediately before the consecration, 
and the prayer of consecration, then follow. 

38. It is to be observed that these prayers are of- 
fered up " in the name of all those who shall receive 
the Communion ;" and that the consecration of the ele- 



THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE. 



59 



ments, and the oblation and invocation are not made 
and offered by the priest alone, and in his own name, 
but " in the name of all the people," and by them, 
with him, as the joint act of all. 

39. The singing of a hymn at this service, w T hich 
is not provided for in the English Liturgy, is at the 
same time suitable to the feelings which the enjoyment 
of this great blessing should excite, and in accordance 
with the recorded fact that at the first institution of 
the Lord's Supper, "they sang a hymn." (Matt. 
26: 30.) 

40. The bread and wine, being first received by 
the officiating priest, and then delivered to the 
bishops, priests, and deacons, (if any are present,) 
and then to the people, are presented with the words : 
" The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which w r as given 
for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting 
life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ 
died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith 
with thanksgiving." " The blood of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which w r as shed for thee, preserve thy body 
and soul unto everlasting life. Drink this in remem- 
brance that Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be 
thankful." 

41. After all have communicated, the minister 
with the people repeats the Lord's Prayer, offers a 
thanksgiving for the blessings connected with the 
Lord's Supper ; and then pronounces the gloria in 
excelsis and the benediction. 

42. In this service we find the doctrine and the 



60 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



blessings of the sacrament set forth as they are in 
the sacred Scriptures ; and a careful exclusion of the 
errors of some of the ancient Liturgies, and the 
grosser errors of the Church of Rome. 

43. In the exhortations, in the prayer of consecra- 
tion, in the invocation, and in delivering the ele- 
ments, the sacrament is repeatedly declared to be 
instituted in remembrance, and for a memorial, of 
the Saviour's* death. 

44. The sacrament is also here set forth as the seal 
of the covenant for the remission of sins, made through 
the blood of Christ. In the parts of the service 
which enjoin, pray for, and express repentance and 
faith ; which contain the offering up of our prayers, 
and services, and alms ; in which are presented our 
" sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving," and in which 
we offer " ourselves as living sacrifices ;" in these 
parts of the service is contained our preparation for 
the reception of the seal of the covenant. Other 
portions of the service are expressive of the forgive- 
ness of our sins and all other benefits of his passion 
which Christ conveys and seals to us in this sacra- 
ment. 

45. In the exhortation, at the time of the celebra- 
tion, the communicants are warned that the benefit 
of it is great only to those who receive it " with a 
true, penitent heart, and lively faith ;" which proves 
that the sacrament conveys a blessing only to those 
who are spiritually prepared for it. 

46. The elements are called bread and wine in the 



THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE. 



61 



last Rubric ; which proves that the Church does not 
believe that they receive any other change after con- 
secration than that of being set apart for a holy use. 

47. In the prayer that follows the administration 
of the Holy Communion, thanks are offered for the 
reception of the spiritual food of the most precious 
body and blood of Christ, on the part of those who 
have duly received the holy mysteries ; which proves 
that tjie Church considers that only worthy recipients 
can receive this heavenly food. 

48. The XXVIIIth Article of the Church declares 
that to such as rightly, worthily and with faith re- 
ceive the sacrament, is the bread a partaking of the 
body of Christ and the cup of blessing is a partaking 
of the blood of Christ. 

49. It declares farther that the body of Christ is 
given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after an 
heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean 
whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in 
the Suppef is faith. 

50. From these testimonies it is proved to be the 
doctrine of the Church : (1) that the benefit of the 
Sacrament is limited to the worthy, that is, the peni- 
tent and believing recipient ; (2) that the bread and 
wine are not changed into any other substance ; (3) 
that the body and blood of Christ are not present in 
the sacrament, and can not^e given or received, ex- 
cept after a heavenly and spiritual manner ; and (4) 
that the means whereby it is received and eaten is 
faith. 



02 



THE CREED. 



Remarks axd Exhortations. 

1. In view of the doctrine of the Sacrament, we 
see that it is a solemn duty to examine ourselves, 
iest we eat and drink unworthily and to our con- 
demnation. 

1 Cor. 11 : 27-30. Exhortations in the Communion service. 

2. "We should prepare for this service by true re- 
pentance and lively faith; by solemn purposes to 
forsake sin and exercise Christian charity, by extend- 
ing forgiveness to enemies, and by making full 
restitution and satisfaction for all injuries and wrongs 
of which we have been guilty. 

3. We should prepare to receive this sacrament 
as an affecting memorial and representation of the 
dying love of Christ ; as a seal of his covenant, by 
which he assures and conveys to us pardon, 
justification, sanctincation, and all the blessings of His 
grace ; and as a sign of the union and love, which all 
Christians should cultivate and enjoy, as members of 
the household of faith. 



LESSOX VII. 
THE £REED. 

1. In our previous Lessons we have considered 
the rite of Confirmation, the repentance and faith 
which are necessary preparations for this ordinance, 



THE CREED. 



63 



and the sacrament of Baptism, which precedes, and 
that of the Lord's Supper, which follows, its admin- 
istration, as they are set forth in the Scriptures, and 
in the Book of Common Prayer. 

2. As the preface to the Confirmation Service de- 
clares that none shall be confirmed but such as can 
answer to the questions in the Short Catechism, and 
as it is evidently intended that the candidate for 
Confirmation should not only be able to repeat, but 
also to understand, this summary of Christian doc- 
trine, it is proper that we should here enter upon its 
explanation. {Lesson II, § 24.) 

This catechism originally formed part of the office for Confirmation, and 
folio-wed what is now called the preface to that service. A rubric before 
the service declared that the rite is to be administered to the baptized, in 
order that by imposition of hands and prayer, they may receive strength 
and defense against all temptation to sin and the assaults of the world and 
the devil. This was afterwards omitted, probably because of its giving 
countenance to superstitious view3 of the ordinance. Another rubric, 
which seemed to imply the necessity of Baptism for Infants in order to sal- 
vation, was also excluded. 

3. It will be remembered that in the Baptismal 
service for Infants, they were declared regenerated 
by anticipation, on the ground of the faith and re- 
pentance promised by their sponsors. 

4. It is in entire agreement with this declaration, 
and in the same sense, that the child is* declared, in 
the answer to the second question, to have been 
made in Baptism, " a member of Christ, the child 
of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of 
Heaven." 



64 



THE CREED. 



5. The promise of the Sponsor in Baptism in- 
cludes every part of Christian character and duty ; 
renunciation of the world, the flesh, and the devil ; 
belief in all the articles of the Christian faith ; and 
obedience to God's holy will and commandments. 

6. The Articles in which the candidate for Con- 
firmation expresses his belief, are contained in the 
Apostles' Creed. 

7. This Creed is called the Apostles' Creed, be- 
cause it embodies the doctrines of the Apostles, and 
was derived from churches which were called Apos- 
tolic. 

Bp. Brownell's Commentary on Prayer Book, p. 94. 

8. Those churches were called Apostolic in which 
the Apostles lived and labored : as Jerusalem, Co- 
rinth, Ephesus, and Antioch in the East, and Rome 
in the West. 

The claim that the Apostles' Creed was composed and set forth by them, 
is considered and confuted by Goode, Divine Rule, vol. 1, 107-113. 

9. It was originally used at the administration of 
the Sacrament of Baptism ; and not embodied in 
any Liturgy until the close of the fourth century. 

Bingham's Antiquities, 437, 519-20. 

10. It is a compendium of the doctrine, belief in 
which must -be professed by those who are to be 
baptized. 

11. It was not in the same form in all the 
churches, each Bishop having the right to adopt 
such liturgies and creeds as they chose. 

Bingham, p. 36. 



THE CREED. 



65 



12. By "I believe," in the Creed, is meant an as- 
sent of the mind to the truths therein announced, 
and such a reception of them in the heart as makes 
them loved, realized, and acted upon. 

13. The Creed opens with the fundamental arti- 
cle of all religion, which is the personal being of 
God. 

14. The existence of God, and his power and 
Godhead, may be known by the works of God. 
(Rom. 1:19, 20.) 

15. But the heathen, while they did not alto- 
gether deny the existence, corrupted the true idea 
of God. (Rom. 1 : 22, 23, 25.) 

16. They did not have the idea which the Bible 
gives us of one Holy God, but of many Gods, who 
were, like men, evil. 

17. The Creed, in acknowledging God as Fa- 
ther, contemplates him as the Creator of all being, 
as the Father of Jesus Christ, and, as thus, our Fa- 
ther reconciled to us by him. 

18. As the "Almighty Maker of Heaven and 
Earth," we confess him to be Creator of the world, 
in opposition to Atheism, which declares that it has 
no Creator, and in opposition to Paganism, which 
supposes different parts of creation made and sus- 
tained by different deities. 

19. Belief in "Jesus Christ his only Son our 
Lord," involves belief in him, as Jesus, or Saviour, 
(Matt. 1 : 21,) as Christ, or the Anointed One, or 
Messiah, (Ps. 45 : 1) as the only begotten and un- 



66 



THE CREED. 



created Son of God, previous to his incarnation, 
(John 1:1; Heh. 1 : 3,) and as the Divine Lord and 
Master to whom we belong, and whom we are 
bound to serve, (1 Cor. 6 : 20.) 

20. By the Article, " Conceived by the Holy 
Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary," we express 
our belief in the doctrine of the Incarnation ; the 
doctrine that the Eternal Son became, or teas made, 
flesh. 

21. This doctrine includes belief in the perfect 
humanity of Christ, (1 Cor. 15 : 21,) and in his mi- 
raculous conception by the Holy Ghost of the Vir- 
gin Mary, (Isaiah 7:12; Luke 1 Ch.) 

22. Our belief that Christ suffered under Pontius 
Pilate rests upon the testimony of Scripture, and 
is confirmed by the Heathen author Tacitus. 

23. The Jews did not expect the Messiah to suf- 
fer, but to come as a conquering king, to liberate 
the nation from the Roman yoke, (Ps. 45.) 

24. But the same Scriptures which foretold the 
glory, foretold also the sufferings, of the Messiah. 

Is. 50 : 53 ; Acts 3 : 18 ; Luke 24 : 25, 26. 

25. The sacrifices of the Jewish law were types of 
the sacrifice of the Saviour, as we see in the 10th 
chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 

26. Prophecies of the sufferings of the Messiah, 
were made by Moses, by Daniel, by Isaiah, and 
other prophets. 

Gen. 3 : 15 ; Dan. 9 : 26 ; Is. 50 and 53. 



THE CREED. 



07 



27. The sufferings of Christ were the subject of 
covenant between the Father and the Son. 

Heb.10; Is. 53: 10,11. 

28. That the sufferings of Christ before and dur- 
ing his crucifixion, were real and very great is evi- 
dent from his own sayings in the garden of Geth- 
semane and on the Cross. 

, Matt. 26 : 37, 45 ; Matt. 27 : 40. 

29. The object of these sufferings was the salva- 
tion of sinners. 

Heb. 2:9. 

30. The next Article of the Creed declares that 
Christ was crucified, dead, and buried. 

31. Two principal types of Christ, which showed 
forth his death and crucifixion, were the brazen 
serpent, (John 3 : 14,) and the Paschal lamb, (1 
Cor. 5 : 7.) 

32. Crucifixion was a mode of punishment so in- 
famous that it was inflicted only on slaves, and the 
most atrocious criminals. 

33. Belief is expressed that Christ was dead, be- 
cause it was denied by some early heretics. 

34. It is evidently proved that Christ was dead, 
from the fact that his side was pierced. 

John 19 : 34. 

35. It is equally evident that he was "buried, 
according to the Scriptures," (1 Cor. 15:3, 4 ; 
Is. 53 : 8, 9.) 



63 



THE CREED. 



36. The Article of the Creed, " He descended 
into hell," did not at first form part of the Creed, 
and was introduced into it hi the fifth century, in 
order to counteract the heresy of Appolonarius, that 
Christ had no human soul, but that his divinity sup- 
plied its place. 

37. It was the belief of Calvin, that the soul of 
Christ went down into hell, and experienced the 
torments of the damned. 

38. The word hell in the Creed is explained in 
the rubric of the Morning Prayer by the words, the 
place of departed spirits, which may be substituted 
for it. 1 

39. By the rubric in the Morning Prayer, which 
allows this clause of the Creed to be omitted, it 
appears that it is not considered by the Church an 
essential article of faith. 

40. The word hell, like the Hebrew word sheol, 
and the Greek word hades, is used as a general 
term descriptive of the place and state of the 
departed spirits, both of the righteous and the 
wicked. 

41. The words, "He descended into hell," signify 
the departure of the soul of Christ to that abode of 
righteous and happy spirits, which he called Para- 
dise, where he promised to meet the penitent thiel 
who died upon the Cross. (Luke 23 : 43.) 

42. That which is most important in this article 
is the doctrine involved in it, that Christ had a hu- 
man soul, and that it was subject to the same condi- 



REMARKS AND EXHORTATIONS. 



09 



tions as other human souls, inasmuch, as " in all 
things it behooved him to be made like unto his 
brethren." (Heb. 2 : 17.) 

Remarks and Exhortations. 

1. We have seen, in Lesson IV., that salvation is 
the gift of God, which is to be received by faith. 

2. The truth of God is that which directs faith to 
the object upon which it must lay hold and rest, in 
order to be saved. 

3. Hence, it is of supreme importance, that the 
" Creed," or the Articles of faith which we adopt, 
should be that " truth as it is in Jesus," whereby 
alone we can obtain salvation. % 

4. The truths which the Scriptures insist upon as 
essential to salvation, are those which refer to the 
person and offices, and work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the errors which are called deadly and 
damnable are those which deny the Incarnation, the 
Divinity, and the Atonement of the Saviour. (St. 
John's first Epistle.) 

5. Hence the Church has embodied in a short 
Creed, all the facts on which the saving doctrines of 
the Gospel rest, and which stand opposed to the 
errors and heresies which would turn the soul away 
from its only ground of hope and life. 

6. The Holy Spirit makes use of the word of God 
to convince and convict the heart of sin, to beget it 
to a new life in Christ, to sanctify it, to impart to it 



70 



THE CREED. 



peace and hope and joy and consolation. (John 
16:8; John 17:17; Eph. 5 : 26 ; John 8 : 32 ; John 
16 : 13 ; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 Peter 1 : 22.) 

7. As the truth, then, is God's great instrument 
for the conversion and sanctification of the soul, the 
sinner who desires salvation, should keep it "before 
his mind and heart, and pray for the Holy Spirit to 
show it, and impress it savingly upon his soul. 

8. And let all solemnly remember the danger and 
the guilt of refusing to embrace and act upon the 
saving truth as it is in Jesus, when it has been pre- 
sented to the heart, and when it includes the pro- 
mise of the Holy Spirit, to those that seek it. 

9. Behold, then, in the Creed, the Lamb of God 
that taketh away the sins of the world, and accept 
his mercy and live forever ; or neglect his offer and 
his grace and perish ! 



LESSON VIII. 
THE CREED. 

(OONTESTU'ED.) 

1. The next Article in the Creed declares that on 
the third day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 

2. His Resurrection fulfilled some remarkable 
types and prophecies of the Old Testament. 



THE CREED. 



71 



3. Isaac and Jonah were types of Christ's Resur- 
rection. (Heb. 11 : 18, 19; Matt. 12 : 40.) 

4. The Resurrection of Christ was foretold by 
Isaiah and by David. (Isa. 63 : 13. Psalm 2 : 7, 
quoted in Acts 13 : 33. Psalrn 16:10, quoted in 
Acts 13:36,37 ; Acts 2 : 27.) 

5. The fact of the Saviour's Resurrection was an- 
nounced, or attested, by angels, by risen saints, and 
by the disciples to whom he showed himself. 

6. The Angel at the door of the empty sepulchre 
of Christ, declared that he had risen. (Matt. 28:5, 
6.) 

7. The saints that rose after his Resurrection, tes- 
tified to the power of Christ, as the " first fruits of 
them that slept." (1 Cor. 15 : 20.) 

8. Christ showed himself repeatedly to his disci- 
ples after his Resurrection, and they have testified 
to the fact. (1 Cor. 15 : 4-8.) 

9. He ate with his disciples, and permitted Tho- 
mas to put his hand in his wounded side. (Luke 
24 : 36-44 ; John 20 : 26, 27.) 

10. By his death, Christ offered an atonement 
for our sins; by his Resurrection he secured our 
salvation. " He was delivered for our sins and was 
raised again for our justification." (Rom. 4 : 25.) 

11. His Resurrection was needful in order to com- 
plete and secure our salvation. (1 Cor. 15:17.) 

12. The next clause in the Creed declares that 
Christ " ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the 
right hand of God." 



12 



THE CREED. 



13. It is the doctrine of the Church that Jesus 
Christ in his glorified human body and soul ascend- 
ed and dwells hi Heaven. 

14. The actual ascent of the body of Christ is 
confirmed by the testimony of his disciples, whom 
he led out to Bethany, and before whom he rose. 
(Luke 24 : 50 ; Acts 1 : 9-11.) 

15. The Ascension of our Saviour was foretold by 
David. (Psalm 68 : 18 ; Eph. 4 : 8.) 

16. Christ at the right hand of God, is constituted 
head of his body, the Church. (Col. 1:18.) 

17. There Christ continues to exercise his office 
of Prophet, or great Teacher of the Church, through 
the Apostles and Teachers, whom he authorizes and 
qualifies to dispense his saving truth. (Eph. 
4 : 11-16.) 

18. There he still exercises his priesthood by 
making intercession for the saints. (Heb. 7 : 25.) 

19. There he sits as King, ruling the Church, and 
dispensing the gifts of his Holy Spirit. (Eph. 4 : 8.) 

20. The next Article of the Creed declares that 
from Heaven u he shall come to judge the quick 
and the dead." 

21. The Scriptures declare that the quick and 
dead, the righteous and the wicked, must appear be- 
fore the judgment seat of Christ. (1 Thes. 4 : 15, 
16 ; "Rom. 14 : 10.) 

22. Jesus Christ has been constituted by the 
Father, the Judge of the world. (John 5:22.) 



THE CREED. 



23. The dead will be judged and condemned, or 
approved, according to their works. (Rev. 20 : 12.) 

It was seen, in Lesson IV., that we are accepted and justified, not on the 
ground of good works, but only by the exercise of that faith in Christ, 
which is itself a rejection of all reliance upon our works and merits, and 
an acceptance in our conscious and confessed guilt and unworthiness of 
the alone merits and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Under the system of 
redemption, therefore, no man can be accepted on account of hi3 works ; 
they can not constitute the ground and the reason of his acceptance. But 
God in his system of Redemption can not cease to act on that universal 
principle of his moral administration, by which he rewards the good and 
punishes the evil. To man unfallen, he promised life on obedience, death 
upon disobedience. To man fallen, he continues the threat of death to 
disobedience, and holds out the offer of life, not to perfect personal obedi- 
ence to the law, but to that acceptance (in which the spirit, and purpose, 
and desire of obedience to the will of God is involved) of the salvation oi 
Christ by faith, in which there has been a perfect obedience to the law, and a 
full sufferance of the penalty of its violation by our substitute. Then, after 
we are included in the provisions of this scheme of remedial mercy, in 
which we " are accepted in the beloved" substitute, who has kept the law, 
or fulfilled, by his sufferings and obedience, all its demands on us, we are 
judged personally— ^not on account, or on the ground of our works— bui 
according to our works. (St. Matt. 10 : 41, 42.) 

24. The next Article of the Creed is, "I believe 
in the Holy Ghost." 

25. The Holy Ghost is described in Scripture not 
as a mere influence, but as a personal agent. 

26. He is spoken of as working, speaking, coming 
and going. (John 14 : 16, 26 ; 15 : 26 ; Acts 13 : 2, 
4 ; Matt. 28 : 19.) 

27. The Scriptures testify the Supreme Godhead 
of the Holy Ghost, and his equality with the Father 
and the Son. (Acts 5 : 3, 4 ; Heb. 10 : 15, 16 ; Psalm 
139 : 7-12.) 



THE CEEED. 



28. The operations of the Holy Spirit are two- 
fold, miraculous and ordinary. 

29. An eminent instance of the miraculous influ- 
ences of the Holy Spirit, was furnished on the day 
of Pentecost, in the gift of tongues. 

30. The ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit are 
the conviction, the conversion, and the sanctifica- 
tion of the sinful heart. 

31. The Holy Spirit convinces men of sin, of 
righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16:8.) 

32. The Holy Spirit seemingly enlightens the 
mind. (1 Cor. 2 : 10.) 

33. The Holy Spirit regenerates the soul. (John 
3 : 5, 6.) 

34. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the soul. (1 Cor. 
6:11.) 

35. The Holy Spirit endows the soul with various 
graces. (Gal. 5 : 22, 23.) 

36. The Holy Spirit seals the souls of believers to 
eternal life. (Eph. 4 : 30.) 

37. The next Article in the Creed is, "I believe 
in the Holy Catholic Church." 

38. By the expression, "I believe in the Holy 
Catholic Church," is meant belief of its existence. 

39. The word holy is sometimes used to express 
the condition of the heart, and sometimes to express 
the dedication of things and persons unto God. 
(1 Peter 2 : 9.) 

40. It is in the latter sense that it is used in the 
Creed. 



THE CREED. 



75 



41. The word Catholic, was originally used to ex- 
press true, in contradiction to false doctrine, teach- 
ers, and ministers, and thus naturally became ex- 
tended in its signification to all true Churches, or 
the one true Church of God, throughout the world. 

42. The Holy Catholic Church is thus described 
in the XlXth Article : " The visible Church of 
Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which 
the pure word of God is preached and the Sacra- 
ments be duly ministered according to Christ's or- 
dinance in all those things that are of necessity 
requisite to the same." 

43. From this definition it follows that we are 
not to judge of the truth of doctrines by the author- 
ity and decisions of the Church ; but we are to ex- 
amine the doctrine, and according to that to judge 
of the purity and reality of the Church. 

44. The word Church in Scripture, is applied to 
believers in a house, (Col. 4:15,) in a city, (Rev. 
1 : 4,) in a province, (2 Cor. 8:1,) in the world, 
(1 Cor. 12 : 28,) and in both worlds, (Heb. 1 2 : 23.) 

45. That the word, "Holy Catholic Church," in 
the Creed, signifies the Universal visible Church, 
appears from the corresponding expression in the 
Nicene Creed, " One Catholic and Apostolic 
Church," that is, the true Church established by 
the Apostles. 

46. By the expression, " the Communion of 
Saints," is meant the fellowship and unity in the 
faith of believers. (Acts 2 : 44.) 



76 



REMARKS AND EXHORTATIONS. 



47. "The forgiveness of sins" is an article of 
faith which immediately follows belief of the Holy 
Catholic Church, to show that remission of sins was 
to be obtained in it ; and in the Xicene Creed it is 
connected with the Sacrament of Baptism. (Acts. 
2 : 38.) 

48. " The Resurrection of the body" is included 
in the Creed, because it is a fundamental truth of 
the Gospel. (Acts 4:2.) 

49. The doctrine of the Resurrection is, that the 
same body which was buried shall rise again, a glori- 
fied and spiritual body. (John 5 : 28, 29 ; 1 Cor. 
15 : 36.) 

50. 64 The life everlasting" expresses the truth that 
the soul shall live and be happy forever. 

Remarks axd Exhortations. 

1. The doctrine of the Resurrection of Christ as 
the first fruits of them that slept, should solemnly 
remind us that we can no more avoid our resurrec- 
tion than we can our death; and should admonish 
us to prepare for the great day, in which all who are 
in their graves shall come forth, some to the Resur- 
rection of life, and some to the Resurrection of 
damnation. 

2. The doctrine of Christ's Ascension into Heaven, 
and his session at the right hand of the Father, and 
his being made head over all things to the Church, 
as Prophet, Priest, and King, should make us dread 



TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND LORD'S PRAYER. 77 

his wrath as one able to destroy, and encourage us 
to rely upon him as one able to save unto the utter- 
most all that come unto God by him. 

3. Belief in the personality and offices of the Holy 
Spirit, as " the Lord and giver of life, who proceed- 
eth from the Father and the Son," takes away all 
excuse for remaining in a state of sin because of an 
inability to turn to God, and lays upon us the duty 
of appealing to God to fulfill his promise, that he will 
give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. 

4. Belief in " the Holy Catholic Church, the com- 
munion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the Resur- 
rection of the body, and the life everlasting," brings 
to the mind such blessings and privileges for the 
believer in this life, and such glory and blessedness 
in the life to come, as should animate him to be 
eminently holy, and to seek with glowing hopes and 
desires those things which are above, where Christ 
sittetb on the right hand of God. 



LESSON" IX. 

THE CATECHISM. 

The Tex Commandments, and the Lord's 
Prayer. 

1. The Ten Commandments were given to the 
Tews about 1500 years before Christ, and three years 
fter their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. 



78 



THE CATECHISM. 



2. The Ten Commandments enforce the unchang> 
hig moral law of God, of which Jesns Christ declar- 
ed that " one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
from the law till all be fulfilled." 

3. These Commandments include our whole duty 
to God and man. 

4. These Commandments, as explained by our 
Saviour in the 5th chapter of St. Matthew, require 
not only outward obedience, but also the obedience 
and conformity of the heart. 

5. Xo one Commandment can be violated without 
incurring the penalty attached to all, according to 
the declaration of St. James : " Whosoever keepeth 
the whole law, and yet offendeth hi one point, he is 
guilty of all." (James 2 : 10.) 

6. Xo man ever has kept, or can keep, the whol 
law. (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 4:15.) 

7. " Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh 
be justified." (Rom. 3 : 20.) 

8. The law, because it condemns us, is a school- 
master to bring us unto Christ, who bore the penalty 
and curse o£ the law for us, and by believing in 
whom we are forgiven and accejrted. (Gal. 3 : 24 ; 
Gal. 3 : 13.) 

9. After we are justified by faith we are freed 
from the penalty of the law, but not freed from the 
duty of obedience to the law. (Rom. 6 : 14, 15, 16 ; 
Rom. 7 : 25 ; Article XII.) 

10. The first Commandment condemns the idolatry 
which consists in relying upon, or loving supremely, 
any other than the one God. (Matt. 22 : 37.) 



TEX COMMANDMENTS, AXD EOED'S PEAYEE. 79 

11. The second Commandment forbids that idola- 
try which consists in rendering the worship and 
homage to any graven image, or any created thing 
or being, which is due to God alone. 

12. The threatening contained in this Command- 
ment, does not imply that children shall suffer eter- 
nal penalties for the sins of their parents ; but only 
that temporal sufferings and afflictions shall descend 
upon them. 

13. This is consistent with the perfect equity of 
God in his dealings with the children of transsrres- 
sors* because the sufferings of the children in this 
world will be no greater than they have personally 
deserved, and because God will deal with them in 
the future world with perfect equity. 

Jer. 31 : 29 ; Ezek. 83. 

14. The temporal consequences of sin, seen to the 
third and fourth generation, are such as naturally 
follow from it, and are calculated to strike terror 
into the hearts of men, and deter them from trans- 
om ression. 

15. The blessing pronounced upon those who obey 
this Commandment, likewise naturally results from 
obedience, and is a visible proof of the wisdom of 
keeping the Commandment. 

16. The third Commandment forbids perjury and 
profaneness. 

17. The awful guilt of perjury consists in calling 
God to witness a falsehood. 



so 



THE CATECHISM. 



18. Profaneness consists not only in cursing and 
swearing, but in light and trifling use of the hc]y 
name of God, and in the desecration of the ordi- 
nances of religion. (Matt. 5 : 34 ; Is. 29 : 13.) 

19. The fourth Commandment enjoins the keep- 
ing holy of the Sabbath clay. 

20. The Sabbath day was not first instituted at 
Sinai ; but the Jews were commanded to remember 
it as a prior institution. (Gen. 2:3.) 

21. The Sabbath was established that man might 
rest from labor, and devote himself to the worship 
and service of God. (Is. 58:13.) % 

22. After the Resurrection of Christ, and in honor 
of that event, the first day of the week was observed 
as a day of public worship and of holy rest by the 
Apostles and first Disciples of the Lord. 

St. John 20 : 19-26; Acts 20 : T; 1 Cor. 16 :1,2; Rev. 1:10. 

23. The fifth Commandment enjoins honor and 
obedience on the part of children to their parents. 

The family is a divine institution. (Gen. 2.) Disobedience and rebellion 
against parents was punished in the Jewish law by death. (Deut 21 : IS, 19.) 
This Commandment is called by St. Paul, (Eph. 6 : 2,) " The first Command- 
ment with promise. 1 ' 

24. The sixth Commandment not only forbids the 
act of murder, but also all feelings of hatred and 
revenge. (1 John 3 : 15.) 

25. The seventh Commandment forbids not onJy 
the act of adultery,but also the indulgence of the lusts 
of the flesh and of the mind, which might lead to its 
commission. (Matt. 5 : 28.) 



THE LORD'S PRAYER. 



81 



26. The eighth Commandment forbids theft, and 
according to the spiritual and extended meaning 
which Christ has given to the Commandments, all 
oppression, injustice, and dishonesty. 

27. The ninth Commandment forbids the sins of 
falsehood and detraction in all their forms. 

28. The tenth Commandment is directed against 
the sins of covetousness and envy. 

29. The admonition to the catechumen, which 
follows the Ten Commandments in the Catechism, is 
as follows : " Know this, that thou art not able to do 
these things of thyself, nor to walk in the Command- 
ments of God, and to serve him without his special 
grace, which thou must learn at all times to call for 
by diligent prayer." 

The Lord's Prayer. 

30. The Lord's Prayer was intended not only as 
a model, but as &for??i of prayer to be used by his 
disciples. (Luke 11:2.) 

31. The Church therefore shows proper reverence 
and gratitude to our Lord, by inserting this prayer 
in every separate office of devotion, which she has 
provided. 

32. The duty of prayer to God arises from our de- 
pendence upon and obligation to him, as our Crea- 
tor, Redeemer, and Benefactor. 

33. The different kinds of prayer are, mental 
'prayer, (1 Sam. 1 : 13,) secret 'prayer, (Matt. 6 : 6,) 

4 * 



82 



THE CATECHISM. 



family or household prayer, (2 Sam. 6:20,) arid so- 
cial or public prayer, (Acts 1 : 14.) 

34. There should be a preparation of the heart in 
order that our prayers may be effectual. (Psalm 
66:18.) 

Psalm 145 : 13 ; Prov. 15 : S, 29 ; Ls. 1, 15. 

35. Prayer should be presented in faith that God 
hears and answers it. (Matt. 21 : 22.) 

Mark 11: 21; Heb. 11 : 6. 

36. Prayer must be offered in the name of Jesus 
Christ, (John 14 : 13, 14.) 

John 15 : 16; John 16 : 23 ; Eph. 5 : 2 ); Heb. 13 : 15. 

37. It must be offered in dependence upon the 
assistance of the Holy Spirit. (Rem. 8:15, 26.) 

38. It is our duty to pray rath fervent desire. 
(Luke 11:8.) 

Luke 6 : 12 ; Luke 13:1; Rom. 12 : 12 ; Eph. 6 : IS. 

39. We should be frequent and instant in prayer. 
(Psalm 55 : 17.) 

Psalm 36 : 3 ; Psalm 119 : 164; Dan. 6 : 10 ; Luke 2 : 37. 

40. In our prayers we should avoid ostentatious 
and vain repetitions. (Matt. 6 : 6, 7.) 

41. Our prayers will prevail if they be properly 
prepared for and presented. (1 John 3 ; 22.) 

Psalm 31 : 15 ; 145 : IS ; Matt. 7:7; John 15 : 7 ; James 1 : 5. 

42. In the first clause of the Lord's Prayer — 
"Our Father who art in Heaven" — we address God 



THE LORD'S PRAYER. 



SO 



as a reconciled Father in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 
8 : 15.) 

43. By the first petition — "hallowed be thy 
name" — we pray that God's name may be esteemed 
holy, and be honored and praised by all his creatures. 

44. By the second petition — " thy kingdom come " 
— we pray for the increase of the grace of God m 
our own hearts, and the extension of his kingdom 
over all the world. 

45. By the third petition — "thy w r ill be done on 
earth as it is in Heaven " — we pray for the univer- 
sal diffusion of holiness in the world ; and we con- 
template the second coming of Christ, who will then 
set up a kingdom in which shall dwell only righteous- 
ness. 

46. By the fourth petition — " Give us this day 
our daily bread" — we express our dependence upon 
God for every gift of providence and grace, and 
pray to be supplied. 

47. By the fifth petition — " Forgive us our tres- 
passes as we forgive those who trespass against 
us" — we ask God to deal with us as we deal with 
our offending brethren. 

48. By the sixth petition — " and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil" — we pray to 
be kept from the opportunities and enticements 
which would tempt us to evil. 

49. By the doxology — " For thine is the kingdom, 
the powder, and the glory, forever, Amen" — we 
ascribe to God all the blessed attributes on wmich 



84 



THE CATECHISM. 



we rely for a gracious and effectual answer to our 
prayers. 

50. The remaining portion of the Catechism, 
which treats of the sacraments, did not originally 
belong to it, and was added to it at the last Review 
of the Book of Common Prayer, in the year 1661. 

51. The definition of the Sacraments, in the Cate- 
chism, agrees with what we haye seen to be the doc- 
trine of the Scripture and of the offices for the ad- 
ministration of Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. 
(Lessons V, and VI.) 

The Sacraments are here defined as being, not absolutely, but generally 
necessary to salvation, (Less. V., § 19 ;) as outward and visible signs of 
inward and spiritual grace already given us; as ordained by Christ him- 
self; as means whereby we receive grace, (" faith being confirmed and grace 
increased." 1 Art. XXYII.,) and as a pledge to assure us thereof. There arc 
declared to be two parts to a Sacrament — the outward and visible sign, and 
the inward and spiritual grace. The inward grace of Baptism (which as wo 
saw in Lesson V. was not given by Baptism, but supposed to be possessed 
before it is administered) is a death unto sin and a new birth unto right- 
eousness. A profession of repentance and faith are required in order to 
Baptism. Infants are baptized because they make this profession by their 
Sponsors. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is declared to have been in 
stituted in remembrance or as a memorial of his death. This was the 
object of its institution. (Lesson YL, § 15.) The inward part of this Sacra- 
ment is "the body and blood of Christ spiritually taken and received ;" thar 
is, the spiritual taking and receiving of it, by faith, (Art. XXYIII ) The 
benefits of its reception are the strengthening and refreshing of the soul. 
In all these particulars the doctrine of the Catechism is seen to harmonize 
with that of Scripture, of the Articles, and of the offices of the Church, 



Remarks axd Exhortations. 



1. The candidate for Confirmation should examine 
himself by the holy moral law of God, and search 



REMARKS AXD EXHORTATIONS. 



85 



his heart to see if it be fully purposed to keep all 
the Commandments of God, and pray for grace to 
observe them in their letter and in their spirit. 

2. When he sees how far short he has come of 
fulfilling this holy law, he should deeply feel how 
imposssible it is for him to be saved by the works 
of the law, and throw himself upon the mercy of his 
blessed Saviour, who has borne the curse of the law 
for him ; and receive salvation as a free gift, by the 
exercise of a living and life-renewing faith. 

3. He should search his heart to see if he has giv- 
en to any earthly object or being the love which he 
owes to God ; and seek to give up his heart as a 
glad and whole offering to his God. 

4. He should resolve to cultivate habits of awful 
reverence for the name, and character, and institu- 
tions, and ordinances of God. 

5. He should commence his Christian course with 
the solemn purpose of hallowing the Sabbath day 
and honoring it, and finding in its duties and priv- 
ileges his highest and most sacred joys. 

6. He should remember the reverence and affec- 
tion which he owes to his parents, and resolve that 
he will always render it to them. 

7. He should solemnly remember that unless he 
casts out all hatred from his heart, and freely for- 
gives all his enemies, he can not be a true and accept- 
able disciple of that Saviour whose whole mission of 
mercy was to forgive and bless his enemies. 

8. He should have an awful sense of the danger 



86 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PBAYEB. 



and pollution of yielding to the lusts of the flesh and 
the mind ; and make a covenant with his eyes and 
pray God constantly for a spirit of purity, and such 
power over the flesh as to be always able to obey 
the godly motions of the Spirit. 

9. He should steadfastly and anxiously fix himself 
in the purpose of always truly representing himself, 
and ever speaking the truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth. 

10. He should avoid a spirit of envy and of co\- 
etousness, and be content with such things as he 
has, knowing that God orders all his ways in infinite 
love and wisdom. 

11. Thus daily walking in the ways of God's Com- 
mandments, and daily throwing himself on the for- 
giving mercy of God in Christ, his feet shall be kept 
in the ways of truth, and righteousness, and peace. 



LESSON X. 

THE BOOK OF COMMON PHAYEB. 

1. Having considered the rite of Confirmation, the 
Repentance and Faith which are necessary prepara- 
tions for it, the Sacraments of Baptism, and the 
Lord's Supper, and the Catechism, we are now pre- 
pared for a brief examination into the history and 
contents of the Book of Common Prayer. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



37 



2. The independent existence of the Church of 
England may be said to have commenced at the 
date of the divorce of King Henry VHIth from 
Queen Catherine, A.D. 1538. 

3. During the reign of Henry VHIth there was 
very little progress made towards a reformation of 
doctrine ; and the only important doctrine of the 
Church of Rome, which was rejected, was the su- 
premacy of the Pope. 

4. The first Book of Common Prayer was formed 
in the first year of the reign of Edward Vlth, A.D. 
1549. 

Forms of Prayer have always been in use from the earliest agas of the 
Church. For common or united prayer they possess many advantages over 
varying and extemporaneous prayer. By being, in large part, responsive, 
they tend to keep the attention of the worshipper alive, and to quicken his 
devotional feelings. They form a security against the presentation of peti- 
tions which are Unintelligible, or not expressive of the feelings of the wor- 
shipper. They provide that the prayers of the Church should always be 
presented with fullness, solemnity, and reverence. They avoid the danger of 
representing the varying views of different individuals, or of the same indi- 
vidual at different times. They provide for a constantly increasing fervor 
of heart in prayer, by the sacred associations which many years' use of the 
Liturgy produces. All these advantages are secured in a preeminent de- 
gree in our Liturgy, which is universally commended for the holy simpli- 
city, sublimity, and beauty of all its offices. 

5. This original Book of Common Prayer, though 
in its general form and in its offices like the one now 
in use, yet contained many of the errors of the 
Church of Rome, which were afterwards rejected. 

Among these errors and superstitious customs were the following: prayers 
for the dead, the anointing with oil in Baptism, and' the visitation of the sick, 
a form of exorcism to ex^Hl the evil spirit from the child, the form of the 
cross used in the celebration of the Communion, in Matrimony, in Confirm- 
ation, and in visiting the sick. 



83 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



6. The Book of Common Prayer was revised in 
1552, some additions were made to it, and the Popish 
errors and superstitious practices contained in the 
first draught, were removed. 

The introductory sentences, the Exhortation, the Confession, the Absolu- 
tion were then introduced, and taken in great part from a liturgy composed 
by Calvin. The Ten Commandments were then also introduced into the 
Communion service. An office, called " The form and manner of making 
and consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons,' 1 was also introduced. 
The Introit or Psalm used before the Collect, was omitted. The name of the 
Virgin Mary, the sign of the cross, the consecration of the elements, and 
the invocation of the Word and the Holy Ghost upon them, which accom- 
panied it, and the mixture of the water with the wine, all these were omit- 
ted in the administration of the Lord's Suppsr. In Baptism the exorcism, 
the anointing, and the Trine Immersia were omitted. In Matrimony the 
sign of fhe cross and the giving of gold and silver were omitted. In the 
visitation of the sick the anointing and private confession were omitted. 
In the burial service prayers for the dead and the office of the Eucharist 
were omitted. 

" TJie Two Liturgies of Ed. VI. Compared. 1 '' 

7. In 1560, when Protestantism was again rees- 
tablished in England, the Liturgy underwent a few 
and unimportant alterations. 

8. In the year 1661, after the restoration of 
Charles lid, the Liturgy was again subjected to 
some additional and slight changes. 

9. In the year 1789 the constitution of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church in the United States was 
established, and the Prayer Book, with some slight 
changes, was adopted. 

Hawks' Constitution and Canons, p. 5-S. 

Bp. White's Memoirs of the Prot. Epis. Church. 



10. The Preface of the Book of Common Prayer 
sets forth the reasons for retaining the Liturgy of 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYEK. 



89 



the Church of England, and for changing it in some 
particulars. 

11. The first Table contains the order how the 
Psalter is appointed to be read, and how it is to be 
used on Fast and Festival and other days. 

12. The next Tables are those which contain the 
order how the Holy Scriptures are to be read, and 
the Tables of Lessons for the year. 

13. These are followed by Tables and rules for the 
feasts and fasts of the Church through the year. 

14. The morning prayer opens with some senten- 
ces of Scripture, calculated to remind us of the pre- 
sence of God, and to prepare us to praise and pray 
with attentive minds and devout hearts. 

15. This is followed by an exhortation to confess 
our sins, and is the most becoming and appropriate 
commencement of worship for sinful men. 

16. The lowly and united confession of sin which 
follows, is general in its terms, that all may join in 
it, and call to mind their individual transgressions. 

17. This is followed by a comforting declaration 
of the absolution of sinners, in which the minister of 
God authoritatively proclaims that God will assured- 
ly pardon the truly penitent. 

18. The Lord's Prayer is placed first in the Li- 
turgy, in order to honor it as the model and the form 
of prayer given to us by our Saviour. 

19. The versicles which occur in this and other 
parts of the service, are introduced to awaken our 
attention, and raise our hearts to the proper per- 



00 



THE BOOK OF COiDIOX PRAYER. 



formance of the sweet and sacred duties of prayer 
and praise. 

20. The Venite Exultemus is taken from the old 
offices of the Church of England, and is well calcu- 
lated to express the praise and joy of the heart for 
the forgiveness of sins. 

21. The Psalter has always been used in the 
Christian Church, and contains beautiful and appro- 
priate expressions for every variety of religious ex- 
perience. 

22. The Gloria Patri, or doxoiogy, which is to be 
said or sung after the Psalter, and the Gloria in JExel- 
sis, which may also be used, are lofty and glowing 
ascriptions of praise to the Trinity, which are fre- 
quently used in the offices of the Church, and serve 
at once as the highest expression of our devotion, 
and a safeguard for the fundamental doctrine of a 
Triune God. 

23. The first lesson which follows is always taken 
from the Old Testament. 

24. The TeDeum is a very ancient anthem, which 
is supposed to have been composed by St. Augustine 
or St. Ambrose. 

25. The Benedicite, which maybe used instead ot 
the TeDeum, is a paraphrase of the 148th Psalm, and 
is a summons to all the works of the Lord to praise 
him. 

26. The second lesson which follows is always taken 
from the Xew Testament. 

27. The reading of large portions of the word of 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



91 



God in our service, tends to fix it in the memory, 
and shows the supreme estimation in which our 
Church holds the Sacred Scriptures. 

£8. The Nicene Creed, which may be used in the 
place of the Apostles' Creed, takes its name from 
the Council of Nice, at which it was prepared, which 
was held in A.D. 325, to condemn the errors of the 
Arians, who denied the supreme divinity of Christ. 

29. Collects for peace, for grace, and for the Pre- 
sident of the United States follow the Creeds. 

30. The Litany is a very fervent and impressive 
portion of the service, which was in use in the 
Church of England in nearly the same form as at 
present, several hundred years previous to the Re- 
formation. 

31. The " Prayer and Thanksgivings " upon seve- 
ral occasions, to be used before the two final prayers 
of the morning and evening service, enable the 
Church to meet those peculiar and more indivi- 
dual dispensations, which furnish proper subjects for 
prayer and praise in the house of God. 

32. The order for evening prayer diners from that 
for morning prayer chiefly in the omission of the 
Litany and the ante-communion service. 

33. The service which follows the order of morn- 
ing prayer is called the ante-communion service. 

34. The majority of the Collects, which are con- 
nected with the Holy Days, are of a very venerable 
antiquity, and are taken from the offices of the early 
Churches. 



92 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



35. The Epistle was formerly called the Apostle, 
because usually taken from the writings of one of 
the Apostles. 

36. The Gospel is a portion of some one of £he 
four Gospels. 

37. The use of the Epistle and Gospel is expres- 
sive of the reverence of the Church for the word of 
God ; and their position immediately before the ser- 
mon seems to be a solemn announcement to the 
people of the source whence its doctrine should be 
drawn, and of the test by which it should be tried. 

38. Although God has set apart but one day to 
be consecrated to his service, the Church has con- 
sidered it profitable and not superstitious, to set 
apart sacred days to commemorate the great events 
in our Saviour's history, and to honor the memory 
of his Apostles. 

39. The Holy Days of the Church are either days 
of Fast or Festival. 

40. The principal Fasts of the Church are Ash 
Wednesday, Good Friday, and the season of Lent. 

41. The principal Festivals of the Church are 
those of the Epiphany, Christmas, Easter, Ascension, 
and "Whitsunday. 

Remarks axd Exhortations. 

1. Great are the aids which the Church has pro- 
vided to enable her children, in the public worship 
of God, to worship him with the spirit and with the 
understanding also. 



REMARKS AXD EXHORTATIONS. 



93 



2. Yet these beautiful offices of devotion must nob 
be relied upon as if they could give us that spirit 
of supplication which is to be sought of God, in 
order that we may enter into these services with 
hearts prepared to adopt all their expressions of con- 
fession, penitence, praise, and prayer. 

3. We should go into the house of prayer, after 
such self-examination and prayer, and new purposes 
of seeking his favor and doing his will, as shall 
make the public worship of God a season of refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord. 

4. We should go up to the house of God with 
the most animating assurance of meeting and being 
blessed by the Saviour, who has promised to be pre- 
sent where two or three are gathered together in 
his name. 

5. We should enter into the courts of God's 
house with a feeling of warm affection for our fel- 
low-worshippers, and with a happy realization of the 
communion of all the saints of God on earth and. in 
Heaven. 

6. Realizing this to be the spirit in which we 
should enter upon the privilege and duty of public 
worship, we will not count it a light thing to be late 
in our attendance upon public worship, or to be dis- 
tracted, careless, or irreverent in our spirit or 
speech or manner in the house of God. 



94 



CONCLUSION. 



LESSON XI. 
CONCLUSION. 

The course of instruction "which was contemplated, 
haying now been brought to an end, and the time 
for the administration of the rite of Confirmation 
drawing near, the question again, and for the last 
time, which each of you must settle, is this : " Shall 
I now be confirmed ?" 

This question is, in other words: "Shall I now 
give my heart up to God, and confess my Saviour 
before men, and devote myself henceforth as a 'rea- 
sonable, holy, and liviug sacrifice unto God.'" 

Trusting that many of you, by the grace of God, ' 
have been able to make that blessed decision, I * 
would set before you the preparation which it be- 
comes you to make for so solemn a transaction ; I 
would cheer your hearts by an enumeration of the 
blessings which you may expect in acting upon this 
purpose ; I would indicate the duties which it will 
involve, and the motives by which your heart should 
be quickened and sustained in your holy purposes 
and resolutions. 

Preparation. 

You should so review the evidences of your faith 
as to have a firm persuasion of the truth of Christian- 
ity, and a vivid sense of the solemnity of feeling 
which those truths should awaken. 



BLESSIXGS. 



05 



You should strive not only to knoic, but to feel 
deeply your lost and condemned condition as sinners 
before God. 

Your faith should steadily contemplate the stu- 
pendous mercy of God in the gift and sacrifice of 
Christ, that your hearts may be filled with sorrow, 
shame, and humble, adoring gratitude. 

It should be your endeavor, by study and medi- 
tation, to understand the covenant of grace as re- 
vealed in the blessed Saviour. (Heb. 8 : 10-12.) 

You should be earnest in prayer to God to give 
you his blessed spirit, that you may be prepared 
rightly to confess Christ before men. 

You should enter into such a searching examina- 
tion of your heart and life as will enable you deeply 
to feel and discriminatingly to confess your sins, and 
earnestly to desire to overcome all sin, and especial- 
ly those sins that do most easily beset you. 

Do not allow yourself to be discouraged by the 
view you have of your frailty and many dangers, 
but let that view drive you, in simple faith and more 
earnest prayer, to the Lamb of God that taketh 
away sin. 

Be careful, in your duties and spiritual prepara- 
tions, to depend entirely on the grace of God. 

Blessixgs. 

Such being your preparation you will obtain and 
enjoy unspeakable blessings, in the ordinance of 
which you are about to partake. 



96 



COXC^USIOIV. 



You will have the privilege of confessing your 
blessed Saviour, whom you have learned so well to 
love, before men. (Matt. 10 : 32 ; Rom. 10:9.) 

You will find yourself strengthened and confirm- 
ed in your resolutions to serve the Saviour. 

You may confidently look for an increased meas- 
ure of the gift of God's Holy Spirit, as a blessing on 
this act of faith and of obedience. 

The memory of this solemn transaction will re- 
main through your future lives, as a preventive to 
temptation and an incentive to duty. 

By Confirmation you will be entitled to approach 
the Lord's Table, and be admitted to all the priv- 
ileges of a complete member of the visible Church 
of Christ. 

Such being your preparation, and such the bless- 
ings which will accompany it, you will be prepared 
to enter upon the duties which your new character 
and position involve. 

Duties. 

All the parts of the preparation which you may 
have made for this ordinance, must be continued 
and constantly acted upon and formed into holy 
habits. 

After your Confirmation you should be careful 
not to consider yourselves, as of necessity, fixed in 
the possession of a holy heart and holy character, but 
should immediately renew, and often subsequently 




renew, the dedication of yourself to God, in private ; 
" and be not high-minded, but fear." 

Tou should expect to receive the aid of the bless- 
ed Spirit, in answer to your prayers and in the de- 
vout use of the means of grace. 

Your preparation for receiving the Holy Sacra- 
ment of the body and blood of Christ should be spe- 
cial, thorough, and earnest. 

You should diligently and most conscientiously 
and carefully attend on the means of grace. 

You should dwell habitually upon the leading and 
saving truths of the Gospel. 

You should cultivate all those fruits and graces of 
the Spirit, by which the heart is sanctified more 
and more, and by the manifestation of which, men 
may see your good works and glorify your Father 
which is in Heaven. 

Your whole conduct should be such as becometh 
the Gospel of Christ. 

For entering upon this preparation, and desiring 
these blessings, and taking up these duties, you have 
the highest and most animating motives and encour- 
ments. 

Motives. 

God has given special promises and encourage- 
ments to those that seek him early. 

The Church, and the ministers of God, employ 
great care and pains in the religious culture of the 
young. 

5 



98 



CONCLUSION. 



Your Christian parents and friends have offered 
many prayers, and expended upon you much loving 
anxiety, in order that you may seek and find the 
Lord. 

You should remember that all that you are called 
upon to undertake in Confirmation, is already your 
duty, and will be no less your duty should you fail to 
enter upon its discharge. 

And most solemnly should you remember that 
the period when you are invited to be confirmed 
may be considered as a turning-point in your lives. 

The period of youth is that in which the duties 
of religion are most easy and delightful. 

The extreme uncertainty of life and health, even 
to the youngest, should induce you to seek the Lord 
while he may be found, and to call upon him while 
he is near. 

But above all, the dying love of Jesus is a motive 
which ought to constrain you, at once, and with 
loving gratitude, to give yourself and your all to 
him. 

May God grant that these instructions and exhort- 
ations may not prove to any of you a savor of death 
unto death, but unto all of you, through his grace, a 
savor of life unto fife. 



QUESTIONS. 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON I. 

1. For what object are you assembled? 

2. What is it important to learn ? 

3. What is Confirmation called in the Book of Common 
Prayer ? 

4. Was the rite administered in the primitive Church ? 

5. What is the testimony of Tertulhan upon the subject, and at 
what period did he write ? 

6. What is the testimony of Cyprian, and at what period did 
he write ? 

7. When was Confirmation administered in the primitive 
Church? 

8. To w r hat classes of persons was it administered ? 

9. What was the chrism, and by whom was it consecrated ? 

10. What does the omission of these customs by our Church 
prove as to her view of the authority of primitive practice ? 

11. By whom was this rite administered ? 

12. Was Confirmation regarded as a sacrament in the primitive 
Church ? 

13. What is the definition of a sacrament given in our Church 
Catechism ? 

14 Why may not Confirmation be regarded as a sacrament ? 

15. How is Confirmation regarded by the Church of Eome ? 

16. What ceremonies does the Church of Rome connect with 
its administration ? 



100 



QUESTIONS. 



17. What is this rite called in the Greek Church? 

1 8. When is it administered ? 

19. When is it administered to restored heretics ? 

20. How is it administered? 

21. Of what is the chrism composed, and how is it consecrated 
in the Greek Church? 

22. Is the rite retained in the other Oriental churches ? 

23. What single object is presented in the order for Confirma- 
tion in the Book of Common Prayer ? 

24. What ceremony is used in its administration ? 

25. What preparation for this rite is contemplated in the serv- 
ice? 

26. What state of heart does it therefore imply? 

27. What then is implied in the answer, "I do" ? 

28. What is the language of the prayer which follows, in refer- 
ence to those who have been baptized ? 

29. What does it imply? 

30. What does the remainder of the prayer contain? 

31. What is the blessing for which the Bishop prays in tho 
laying on of hands? 

32. On what ground (in the prayer that follows) does the 
Bishop place his performance of the rite ? 

33. What does he declare to be the object of the service? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON II. 

1. What authority is there in Scripture for the rite of Confirma* 

tion? 

2. How were blessings anciently pronounced ? 

3. Where do we find an example of laying on of hands by 
Apostles ? 

4. Why do we infer that this apostolic practice was to be con« 
tinued in the Church ? 



QUESTIONS. 



101 



5. What is meant by the principles of the doctrine of Christ ? 

6. From what fact is this made evident? 

I. Why do we conclude that the laying on of hands can not 
refer to ordination ? 

8. Y\ r hat effect followed the laying on of Apostles' hands ? 

9. What objection has been made to this view ? 

1 0. Who does the Saviour declare shall work miracles ? 

II. What follows from this declaration ? 

12. What do we find in fact to have been the case? 

13. How is it proved that miraculous gifts were sometimes 
imparted prtv ious to baptism ? 

14. How is it proved that they were imparted subsequently to 
Confirmation ? 

15. How is it proved that in some cases the miraculous gifts 
of the Spirit were not bestowed upon some converts? 

16. What do we infer from these facts? 

17. On what ground may this rite be recognized and received 
by those who do not consider it of apostolic institution ? 

18. On wliat ground does the Church place it? 

19. What important purpose does this rite subserve ? 

20. Why may not a public confession of Clrist be made as 
well in the Lord's Supper as in Confirmation ? 

21. Why should the vows made by the adult in baptism be re- 
newed in Confirmation ? 

22. What did we find in the First Lesson to be the extent of 
the Confirmation vow ? 

23. Where are the qualifications for the reception of this rite 
specified ? 

24. What knowledge is required ? 

25. Where are the spiritual qualifications for Confirmation spe- 
cified? 

26. What does the Catechism teach to be the necessary quali- 
fications for Baptism ? 

21. What does it state to be required of those who come to the 
Lord's Supper ? 



102 



QUESTIONS. 



28. What is the inference from these statements? 

29. What is the rubric at the end of the Confirmation service, 
and what does it prove ? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON III. 

L "What have we learned in Lessons I. and II. ? 

2. What is the first qualification into the nature of which we 
should inquire ? 

3. What is false Eepentance called in Scripture ? 

4. Why is it so called ? 

5. What kind of sorrow for sin is there which is not true Ee- 
pentance ? 

6. How was it exemplified in Saul ? 

7. How in Ahab ? 

8. How is it proved that the Eepentance of Saul and Ahab 
was not godly sorrow ? 

9. What other sorrow is there which is not true Eepentance ? 

10. How was tkis exemplified in Pharaoh? 

11. How in Cain? 

12. What is the proof that Pharoah and Cain did not exercise 
true Eepentance ? 

13. How was this kind of sorrow shown in the case of Judas? 

14. In what respect does true Eepentance differ from that which 
is false ? 

15. What reference to God is involved in true Eepentance? 

16. What reference to Christ is involved in true Eepentance ? 
1*7. What is the feeling produced by true Eepentance ? 

1 8. What is one of the first fruits of true Eepentance ? 

19. How do those who are truly penitent regard sin ? 

20. How do they act in reference to sin? 

21. What is the kind of obedience at which they aim ? 

22. What are they careful to avoid ? 



QUESTIONS. 



10b 



23. Why is it necessary that all men should repent ? 

24. What is a necessary condition of forgiveness ? 

25. How is repentance to be obtained? 

26. "What promise is connected with true Repentance ? 

27. What farther promise is connected with it ? 

28. What are some of the most striking examples of true Re« 
pentance recorded in the Scriptures ? 

29. What parable well illustrates true Repentance? 



QUESTIONS ON .LESSON" IV. 

1. How is faith described in Scripture ? 

2. What is faith in its most general sense ? 

3. What is the want of this faith called ? 

4. Why is it a sin ? 

5. From what does it arise ? 

6. Is faith demanded without evidence ? 

I. In what kind of announcements is faith demanded? 

8. Why is faith in the word of G-od necessary ? 

9. What is the first mode mentioned in which we may believe 
the Bible to be of God ? 

1 0. What is another mode ? 

II. What proof is there that Christ came from God ? 

12. To what proof did Christ appeal? 

13. How are we to believe in the Word of G-od ? 

14. What is said in the Scriptures of faith in Jesus Christ ? 

15. What kind of faith is meant? 

16. What kind of faith is described by St. James ? 

17. What is true faith in Christ ? 

18. What other grace must precede or accompany faith? 

19. What hinders the exercise of faith? 

20. Whence is this faith received ? 

21. To whom is it promised? 



104 



QUESTIONS. 



22. From what part of our nature does true faith come ? 

23. What is the first great blessing of faith ? 

24. What is the doctrine of our Xlth Article ? 

25. What is a fruit of faith ? 

26. How have we access to God ? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON V. 

1. What was the rite of admission to the Jewish Church? 

2. To whom was the rite of Baptism administered by the Jews ? 

3. What was the character of the Baptism of John ? 

4. To what class was Christian Baptism at first chiefly admin- 
istered ? 

5. What were the necessary qualifications for Baptism ? 

6. What w r as the answer of Peter to those who asked what 
they must do ? 

7. What qualification is specified by our Saviour ? 

8. How are repentance and faith obtained ? 

9. How is the Holy Grhost received ? 

10. How is this proved ? 

11. How has confusion arisen with regard to the doctrine of 
Baptism ? 

12. In what sense is the word Baptism used in Scripture? 

13. In what other sense is it used ? 

14. In what other sense ? 

15. In what other sense ? 

16. How have superstitious views of Baptism arisen ? 

17. What is the doctrine of the Church of Rome ? 

18. What is that of our own Church? 

19. Upon whom is Baptism obligatory ? 

20. Where is it made a condition of salvation ? 

21. How is Christ to be confessed before men? 

22. How is Baptism connected with the remission of sins ? 



QUESTIONS. 



105 



23. What gift was bestowed in Baptism ? 

24. Where are these views embodied ? 

25. What does the XXVIIth Article describe ? 

26. What is Baptism there called? 
21. What is it farther called ? 

28. What does this language imply ? 

29. In what sense is it an instrument of the new birth ? 

30. What farther blessings are there assigned to Baptism ? 

31. What does the XXVIIth Article say of the Baptism of 
young children ? 

32. On what ground is Infant Baptism retained? 

33. To whom was Baptism to be proclaimed and administered ? 

34. Is it anywhere limited to adults ? 

35. How were children admitted into covenant with Grod under 
the Jewish dispensation ? 

36. What is a probable inference from this fact ? 

37. What is the language of our Saviour; Matt. 19 : 14? 

38. What fact favors the idea that children were baptized? 

39. What was the practice of the primitive Church ? 

40. On what principle is the Baptismal service constructed ? 

41. What qualifications are found to be always required ? 

42. What is the answer in our Catechism to the question — 
Why are infants baptized ?" 

43. What does this answer imply ? 

44. What is promised and supposed ? 

45. What do you infer from this fact ? 

46. What is Baptism when applied to infants ? 

47. What is the office for private Baptism of children ? 

48. What is done in the rite of Confirmation ? 

49. What is the answer to the first question ? 

50. Why -should we renounce the devil ? 

51. Why should we renounce the vain pomp and glory of the 
world ? 

52. Why should we renounce the covetous desires of the same 
and the sinful desires of the flesh ? 

5* 



106 



QUESTIONS. 



53. Why should we express a belief in the articles of the 
Christian faith ? 

54. "What is our reply to the third question ? 

55. What to the fourth? 



QUESTIONS OIsT LESSON VI. 

1. "Where are we to learn the nature and office of the Lord's 
Supper ? 

2. Where do we find the first account of it ; and what is it ? 

3. What is St. Mark's account of it ? 

4. What is St. Luke's account of it ? 

5. Where has St. Paul given an account of it ; and what are 

his words ? 

6. What other reference has he made to this Sacrament? 

I. What is the first fact that we may deduce from these Scrip- 
tures ? 

S. What is the second inference which we may draw from them ? 

9. What is the third ? 

10. What is the fourth? 

II. May we draw from them any further inference? 

12. What change do the bread and wine undergo? 

13. What is the meaning of the expressions, " This is my body.'" 
and "This is my blood " ? 

14. How only can this Sacrament be profitably received ? 

15. What was the prominent purpose for which this Sacrament 
was instituted ? 

16. What then must we conclude the primary object and 
character of the Eucharist to be ? 

IT. What other offices and blessings has the Saviour assigned 
to it? 

18. How shall we find this Sacrament set forth in the Book of 
Common Prayer? 



QUESTIONS. 



107 



19. How does the Communion Service in our Prayer Book 
differ from that of the Church of England ? 

20. Whence are the names of this Sacrament derived? 

21. What is the direction contained in the first rubric ? 

22. What in the second rubric ? 

23. What in the third ? 

24. Why is the word table used in the rubric ? 

25. Why is the Lord's Prayer here introduced ? 

26. What propriety is there in introducing the Ten Command- 
ments into this service ? 

27. What follows the Ten Commandments ? 

28. What two duties are enjoined in the offertory? 

29. What propriety is there in connecting the offering of alms 
with the Lord's Supper ? 

30. What injunction of St. Paul is fulfilled in the prayer for 
Christ's Church militant ? 

31. What was formerly contained in this prayer which is now 
omitted ? 

32. What is the object and character of the two exhortations 
following, and when are they to be read ? 

33. What is the object and character of the next exhortation, 
and when is it to be read ? 

34. What follows these exhortations ? 

35. What follows after the invitation, confession and absolu- 
tion ? 

36. What next? 

37. What next? 

38. What is to be observed of the Prayer of Consecration, and 
that which precedes it ? 

39. What propriety is there in singing a hymn at this service ? 

40. To whom and with what words are the bread and wine 
presented ? 

41. What are the concluding parts of the service ? 

42. How do we find the blessings and doctrine of the Holy 
Supper set forth In this service ? 



108 



QUESTIONS 



43. Where do we find it spoken of as a memorial ? 

44. "What portions of the service refer to it as a seal of the 
covenants ? 

45. By whom, according to the warning in the exhortation, 
are the benefits of the Sacrament received ? 

46. What are the elements called in the last rnbric ? and what 
does this prove ? 

47. What thanks are offered after the administration ? and what 
does this prove ? 

48. What statement is made in the XXYIIIth Article ? 

49. What further statement is made there ? 

50. From these testimonies what is proved to be the doctrine 
of the Church? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON VII. 

1. What subjects have we considered in the previous Lessons ? 

2. Why is it proper that we should now proceed to the Cate- 
chism ? 

3. On what ground are infants declared, in the Baptismal Serv- 
ice, to be regenerate ? 

4. On what ground is it said in the Catechism that the infant 
was made in Baptism a member of Christ, a child of God, and 
an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ? 

5. What is included in the promises of the Sponsors in Bap- 
tism ? 

6. Where are the Articles of the Christian faith, in which the 
candidate for Baptism and Confirmation expresses his belief, con- 
tained ? 

7. Why is this Creed called the Apostle's Creed? 
3. What churches were called Apostolic ? 

9. Where and how was the Creed originally used ? 

10. What is this Creed? 

11. Was the same Creed used in all churches? 



QUESTIONS. 



109 



12. What is meant oy the words, "I believe," in the Creed ? 

13. With what truth does the Creed open ? 

14. What may be known of G-od from his works ? 
16. Did the heathen obtain a true idea of God? 

16. How did they corrupt the idea of G-od? 

17. What is included in the word Father, in the Creed ? 

18. What do we confess in the words. '"Almighty Maker ol 
heaven and earth" ? 

19. What is involved in the words, " Jesus Christ, his only Son, 
our Lord" ? 

20. What in the words, " Conceived of the Holy G-host and 
born of the Virgin Mary" ? 

21. What two points are included in this doctrine? 

22. On what does our belief that Jesus Christ suffered under 
Pontius Pilate rest ? 

23. In what character did the Jews expect the Messiah ? 

24. What do the Scriptures foretell ? 

25. What were types of the suffering Messiah ? 

26. Who prophesied of him as a suffering Messiah ? 

27. What was a subject of covenant between the Father and 
the Son? 

28. How is the reality and greatness of the sufferings of Christ 
proved ? 

29. What was the object of his sufferings? 

30. What does the next Article of the Creed declare ? 

31. What were two principal types of Christ ? 

32. What kind of punishment was crucifixion ? 

33. Why is belief expressed that Christ was dead ? 

34. What proof is there that Christ was dead ? 

35. What is also equally evident? 

36. When were the words, "lie descended into hell," first in- 
troduced into the Creed ? 

37. What was the belief of Calvin ? 

38 How is the word Jiell explained in the Morning Prayer? 
39. What appears from this rubric ? 



110 



QUESTIONS. 



40. In what sense is the word hell used in the Creed ? 

41. What then do the words, "he descended into hell, 9 
mean? 

42. What is most important in this Article ? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON VHL 

The Catechism. 

1. What does the next Article in the Creed declare ? 

2. What was fulfilled by the Resurrection of Christ ? 

3. Who were types of Christ's Resurrection ? 

4. By whom was Christ's Resurrection foretold ? 

5. By whom was the fact of the Resurrection attested ? 

6. What angel testified that he had risen ? 

7. What testimony is furnished in the fact that the saints rose 
after his Resurrection ? 

8. What other witnesses were there of the fact that Christ was 
raised from the dead ? 

9. What proof did Christ give his disciples of the realit} of his 
Resurrection ? 

10. What did Christ accomplish by his death and resurrec- 
tion? 

11. Why was his Resurrection necessary? 

12. What does the next clause in the Creed declare ? 

13. What is the doctrine of the Church ? 

14. What proof is there of the actual bodily ascension of 
Christ? 

15. By whom was it foretold ? 

16. What is the office of Christ in Heaven ? 

VI. How does he exercise the office of Prophet or Teacher! 

18. How that of Priest? 

19. How that of King ? 

20. What does the next Article of the Creed declare? 



QUESTIONS. 



Ill 



21. What is the testimony of Scripture ? 

22 What office has been assigned by the Father to the Son t 

23. By what rule will the dead be judged ? 

24. What is the next Article of the Creed ? 

25. How is the Holy Ghost described in Scripture? 

26. What actions are ascribed to him ? 

27. What do the Scriptures declare as to his relation to the 
Father and the Son ? 

28. What are the operations of the Holy Spirit ? 

29. What was an eminent example of the miraculous influences 
of the Holy Spirit ? 

30. What are the ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit ? 

31. Of what does it convince men ? 

32. What is its influence on the mind? 

33. What on the soul? 

34. What other effect does it produce ? 

35. With what does it endow the soul ? 

36. What other blessing does it bestow on believers ? 

37. What is the next Article in the Creed? 

38. What is raoant by the expression, " I believe in the Holy 
Catholic Church 1 '? 

39. In what senses is the word holy used in Scripture ? 

40. In which of these senses is it used in the Creed ? 

41. What was the original, and what the present meaning of 
the word Catholic f 

42. How is this Church described in the XlXth Article ? 

43. What follows from this definition ? 

44. How is the word Church used in Scripture ? 

45. From what does it appear that the Holy Catholic Church 
in the Creed signifies the universal visible Church ? 

46. What is meant by " the Communion of the Saints'' ? 

47. What by "the forgiveness of sins" ? 

48. Why is belief in the Resurrection of the body included in 
the Creed? 

49. What is the doctrine of the Resurrection ? 
50 What is meant ' >7 u the h'fe everlasting" ? 



112 



QUESTIONS. 



QUESTIONS ON LESSOK IX. 

1. When were the Ten Commandments given to the Jews? 

2. What law do they enforce ? 

3. What is included in the Ten Commandments ? 

4. What do they require ? 

5. What is the effect of violating one commandment ? 

6. Can any man keep the law ? 

7. What follows? 

8. What is the office of the law? 

9. What is the relation of those who are justified by faith to the 
law? 

10. What is condemned by the first commandment? 

11. What by the second commandment? 

12. What is implied by the threatening contained in this com- 
mandment ? 

13. How is this consistent with the equity of God ? 

14. What effect would the fulfillment of this threatening be 
likely to produce ? 

15. What is the blessing connected with this commandment? 

16. What is forbidden by the third commandment? 

17. In what does the guilt of perjury consist ? 

18. What constitutes profanity ? 

19. What is enjoined by the fourth commandment? 

20. When was the Sabbath day instituted ? 

21. For what purpose was it instituted ? 

22. When was the Sabbath changed from the seventh day to 
the first day of the week, and why ? 

23. What is enjoined by the fifth commandment? 

24. What is forbidden by the sixth commandment ? 

25. What is forbidden by the seventh commandment? 

26. What is forbidden by the eighth commandment? 

27. What is forbidden by the ninth commandment? 

28. Against what sins is the tenth commandment directed? 

29. What admonition follows the commandments in the Cate- 
chism ? 



.QUESTIONS. 



113 



30. What was the Lord's Prayer intended to be ? 

31. How has the Church shown honor to this prayer? 

32. From what does the duty of prayer arise ? 

33. How many kinds of prayer are there ? 

34. What is necessary in order that our prayers should be effec- 
tual? 

35. How should prayer be presented? 

36. In whose name should prayer be offered ? 

3*1. In dependence upon whom should prayer be offered ? 

38. With what feeling should we pray ? 

39. How often should we pray? 

40. What should be avoided in prayer ? 

41. When will our prayers prevail? 

42. How do we address God in the first clause of the Lord's 
Prayer ? 

43. For what do we pray in the first petition ? 

44. What do we pray for by the second petition ? 

45. What in the third ? 

46. What do we express and pray for in the fourth petition ? 

47. What do we ask of God in the fifth petition ? 

48. For what do we pray in the sixth petition ? 

49. What do we express by the dcxology ? 

50. Of what does the remaining portion of the Catechism treat, 
and when was it composed ? 

51. With what do its definitions of the Sacraments agree? 



QUESTIONS ON LESSON X. 

1. What have we considered, and what are we now prepared 
o examine ? 

2. From what time may the independent existence of tbc 
Church of England be dated? 

3. What progress was made in the Eeformation during the 
reign of Henry VIII. ? 



114 



QUESTIONS* 



4. When was the first Book of Common Prayer formed ? 
6. What was the character of this book ? 

6. When was it revised, and what changes were made in it ? 

7. When was it again modified? 

8. And when again ? 

9. When was the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States adopted? 

10. What is set forth in the preface ? 

11. What does the first table contain ? 

12. What does the second table contain? 

13. What other tables and rules follow ? 

14. How does the Morning Prayer open ? 

15. By what is this followed ? 

16. What follows the exhortation ? 

17. What follows the Confession? 

18. What follows the Absolution? 

19. What is the use of the Versicles which follow/? 

20. Whence is the Venite taken, and what is its character ? 

21. Why is the Psalter used? 

22. What is the character and object of the gloria patri and the 
gloria in excelsis f 

23. Where is the first Lesson taken from ? 

24. What is the Te Deum 1 

25. What is the Benedicite, and when may it be used? 

26. Where is the second Lesson taken from? 

27. What are the advantages of having large portions of 
Scripture read in the Church ? 

28. Whence does the Nicene Creed derive its name ? 

29. What collects follow the Creed? 

30. What is the character and antiquity of the Litany ? 

31. What is the object and use of the " Prayers and Thanks- 
givings on several occasions" ? 

32. How does the order for Evening Prayer differ from that 
for Morning Prayer ? 

33. What is the service which follows called? 



QUESTIONS. 



115 



34. What is the age and origin of the Collects ? 

35. What was the Epistle formerly called ? 

36. Whence is the Gospel taken ? 

37. What does this use of the Epistle and Gospel express? 

38. On what ground does the Church set apart Holy Days ? 

39. How many kinds of Holy Days are there ? 

40. What are the principal fasts of the Church ? 

41. What are the principal festivals ? 



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